The Celestin Web Site

According to legend, once upon a time, a long time ago in Sweden, there once was a beautiful girl. Her name was Lucia and she had the most beautiful eyes. She was also a Christian, and there was a pagan man who fell in love with her. He wanted to marry her, but she said she wouldn't unless he too became a Christian. He refused and had her denounced as a Christian. She was imprisoned, and the guards gouged out her eyes and then killed her.

Every year, on December 13th, girls in Sweden dress up as Lucia (put a wreath of candles on their head and wear a white gown) and go around giving lucia rolls to all the neighbors. Kind of sweet, in more ways than one.

Friday 21 November 2008
I found something really interesting yesterday and decided to make it available on my web site. If you don't like it, I wasn't asking anyway. For the curious of you, visit All About Guns.

Thursday 13 November 2008
What? No entries for October? How could that happen? Well, it's just been really busy, so I didn't have much of a change to get anything together. And I really don't have anything together right now.

I do have one piece of advice that might make a difference in someone's life, especially if they don't already have a home alarm system. I read this on someone else's web site (can't remember where) and thought it important enough to share with all of my readers. If you don't have a home alarm system, but you do have a vehicle with a panic button lock thingie on your keyring, keep that keyring on your bedside table. If you hear any strange noises, like someone trying to break into your home, hit the panic button on the keyring. That will send a blaring noise from your driveway or garage and hopefully scare away anyone who wants to do you ill. Sounded like good advice, so I'm sharing it here. Hopefully, you'll never have to use it, but if you run into one of those situations, maybe it will prevent something bad from happening.

Friday 26 September 2008

If I had the money, I think that someone is finally coming out with a phone worth buying. If you haven't already done so, check out the new G1 phone by T-Mobile. It's the first Android-powered phone, and in case you don't know what Android is, click here. One has to wonder how long Google has had that name registered or how much they paid for it.

Saturday 13 September 2008
I have a wide-screen monitor. 1440 by 900 pixels. It's kind of an odd shape, so I'm always on the lookout for wallpapers that fit without having to squeeze or cut anything. I found a site that has some pretty good ones for free. It's a site simply called Wide Wallpapers and has categories ranging from aviation to railroad. I like the nature ones they have as the photographs are well done.

Wednesday 3 September 2008
Sadly, Don LaFontaine, the voice of thousands of movie trailers, passed away. There is probably no one in the world that hasn't heard his voice, usually saying something like "In a world where...", but almost no one knows what he looks like. For those of you who are curious, here is a photo.

Saturday 23 August 2008
Always looking for ways to save money, I came across a news story about the cheapest family in America. I really don't think they're the cheapest family, but they do know how to buy groceries for pennies on the dollar by using coupons. How many of us get coupons in the mail or otherwise and never use them? I know I do. But this story may make me change my mind. And, yes, they have their own web site. They spend only $350/month on groceries for their family of seven and were able to pay off their first house after only 9 years and with an average yearly income of only $35,000. Inspirational, eh? If you are looking for some additional tips, here is an interesting article on how to build a stockpile of food. Stockpiling is basically taking advantage of sales to buy goods at really reduced prices. If you do enough of it, you'll end up with a good mix of products that you can delve into when times are tough.

Here is a small example of stockpiling that we do. Our local Target, and probably yours, has a back to school sale right about now. They offer notebooks for 10 cents each and boxes of pencils and crayons for equally ridiculous prices. We end up buying cases of the stuff and use it throughout the school year.

Friday 22 August 2008
I don't usually get on a high horse about stuff. Well, not usually. But here's an item that is truly shocking and that I think most people will feel horrified at. China is the world's largest exporter of fur.

Now, I don't happen to wear fur myself, but I don't have any objection to it. However, the practices in China are well worth letting everyone know about. What would you do if you found out that the nice fur coat you are wearing came from animals that were skinned alive? You read those words right. Skinning animals while they are still alive is an accepted practice at the fur farms in China. And that's only the tip of the iceberg. You can read all about it here, if you dare.

Thursday 21 August 2008
Do you or someone you know suffer from any type of sleeping disorder? There is something called Circadian Rhythm Disorder that appears to be easily treated with blue light. You can make your own blue light generator, and this site shows you how.

Wednesday 20 August 2008
Wow, what nice weather we've been having! This summer has only had a few hot streaks, but otherwise, it's been mighty mellow. I just hope we won't have to pay for it with a grueling Indian Summer, but there's always hope.

Now, here is something really interesting. You can convert your car to use water as an additional fuel. It works by converting the water to hydrogen. Supposedly, it can double your mileage and doesn't cost much. For more details, Click Here.

Sunday 17 August 2008
Well, Michael Phelps did it. A big congratulations to him on his eighth gold medal!

If you live in or near Citrus Heights, CA, you should really take advantage of the Sunrise Movie theater at the Sunrise Mall. I know of no where else nearby where you can watch a major motion picture for only $3.50. And if you catch the matinee, it's only $3. I took my older boys to see Kung Fu Panda yesterday.

Suffice it to say that I was impressed with the quality of this movie. It was a great film, and it had a lot of great moments. I knew that Jack Black was in the movie, but I had no idea that Dustin Hoffman was also in it. If you haven't already seen this film, and if you can still see it on the big screen, do so before you lose the chance. Otherwise, rent the DVD when it comes out. It's really one of the cinematic surprises of this year.

Friday 15 August 2008
I was a kid when Mark Spitz set the record for number of gold medals during a single Olympics. I don't actually remember seeing any of the events, but I do remember all the hoopla, his picture on the Wheaties box, and everything else that goes with that kind of fame. Now, it looks like Michael Phelps is going to do it even better.

He's already got 7 gold medals and still has a chance to get another one, which would break the record Mark Spitz currently holds. Looks like it might be time for some Olympic history, along with those two "scandals", the first one being the faked fireworks show and the second being the lip synched song sung by the child that they said wasn't photogenic enough. What will you remember during this year's Olympics?

Thursday 14 August 2008
Looking for a nice mp3 player but don't have the money to shell out for an iPod? You should really consider the Sansa e250. It's small, very nicely designed, has 2gb of built-in memory (plus a micro SD slot for adding more), and has a battery that lasts up to 20 hours.

I've got one, and it's really a treat to not have to lug around a big case of CDs, especially in the car. I have one of the FM transmitter devices that I use to play through the car radio, and it works pretty well. Plus, this particular Sansa works with Rhapsody, which means you can download a bunch of songs to it, and listen where ever you are. And here's the nicest part, you can get a refurbished unit for only $37.99 from Surplus Computers. It's a really great deal on a really great player. I'm happy with mine, and I think you'll be happy with yours if you get one.

Tuesday 12 August 2008
OK, that number thing just fizzled out, as you can see. And because it fizzled out, I am embarrassed to say what it is even about. If you are still curious and really want to know, you can email me, those of you who know my email address. Otherwise, it's just going to have to die a sudden and horrible death.

In other news, I am seriously thinking about biking. I wouldn't take big trips - it's only about 2 miles to just about anywhere useful and another 2 miles back, and mostly flat. But it will save gas money and help to get me in better shape, which I really need. I have a bike to do it with, and I have a lock for the bike. I just need to actually start doing it one morning. I think that's the hardest part - the first actual ride. I'm not even sure I'll make it.

Thursday 10 July 2008 - 87

Wednesday 9 July 2008 - 91
I suppose we were really overdue for the heat that we are now experiencing in this area. It was very nice to have such a mild summer until now. Our poor little air conditioning unit is going full steam right now, and barely making a dent in the hotness inside the house. Oh, well. Could be worse. Could be in the middle of a humid tropical forest.

Tuesday 8 July 2008 - 94
There's smoke in the sky. It was gone for a while, but now it's back. That, along with the 100-plus temperatures, is not making it very nice. I saw Casablanca for the umpteenth time the other day. And like all the other times I saw it, I fell asleep somewhere in the middle, without getting a good idea of what was going on. I know it's supposed to be a classic and all, and I really do think it is, so I'm hoping to try another viewing again sometime soon.

Monday 7 July 2008 - 100
Starting today, you'll notice a number that appears to the right of the date in my blog entry. Right now, it's just going to have to be cryptic, but I hope to reveal what it all means in 11 weeks, on 22 September 2008, which happens to be my birthday. Can't wait to know what it means, can you? With the number will be what might be a possibly useless blog entry, because I am going to try to blog every single day until then, or at least every day that I can. We'll see what I end up doing...

Tuesday 10 June 2008
The weather in the Sacramento area has been blissfully decent for this part of June, and I am very appreciative. Last year, and years before, we had scorching hot Mays and Junes. I am hoping it won't repeat this year.

A new phone, even better than the iPhone was just introduced today. But before you go out and try to buy it, be warned that it won't be in stores until July. The phone supports the 3G high-speed data network, is half the price of existing iPhones, and supports all those fancy business-related niceties that people want, such as the ability to talk to Microsoft Exchange servers. If I had a few coins to spare, I might consider one, but I'm not that much of a cell phone junkie. I like that it has the ability to browse the web, play music, and tell you where you are and how to get to where you want to go, but until I have lots of disposable income, I'll just have to wait on it. And by the way, the phone is... the new iPhone from Apple.

Monday 24 March 2008

The number 153 has come back to me again. It's a very strange relationship I have with this number. It started way back in 1996 or maybe 1997 when I lived in Port Townsend, Washington. I can't remember the exact details, but I believe either my storage unit, or the keyless entry to the storage area was 153. I remember it being a significant number from the Bible, so I remarked to the owner of the storage facility that I thought it interesting that I received 153. She thought I was nuts. OK, maybe I was. I didn't even know what made it significant. It wasn't until later that I found out it was the number of fish caught after the resurrection of Jesus (John 21:11). There are also supposed to be some other interesting facts about 153, but the only one I can come up with right now is, the first 17 numbers are supposed to add up to 153. Interesting.

So, what do I mean when the number 153 has come back to me again? I was browsing the Internet and found out that there is someone out there who knows exactly when the world will end. First, we'll have a time of tribulation beginning on May 21, 2011. Then, after exactly 5 months, the world will cease to exist on October 21, 2011. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this prediction. However, it is interesting to note that those two dates are separated by exactly 153 days. Well, any 5 consecutive months that don't include February would also be separated by exactly 153 days.

Wonder about the photo above? I was looking on Google for some interesting photo related to the number 153, and I found this one. It's from a public domain photo site which I thought was pretty nice. It's the shoreline somewhere in Ireland. The only real relation the photo has to the number 153 is that 153 was part of the filename given to the image.

Saturday 9 February 2008

When I was a boy living in 1960s Berkeley, I used to watch a lot of television. We had cable, which was a new-fangled idea at the time. It meant we got not just local stations, but some far away stations like ones in Sacramento. Imagine that! One of my favorite shows at the time was Marine Boy. It was about a boy who lived underwater and had a super cool boomerang he used as a weapon. I remember trying to make my own boomerang out of cardboard. It would never fly right and certainly wouldn't come back to me. But it was fun nonetheless. My other favorite shows at the time were Star Trek, Gilligan's Island, Kimba, Ultraman, and Speed Racer. They're making a Speed Racer movie now. Wonder how it will be...

Wednesday 30 January 2008

Here is what is likely to be my only entry for the month of January. I just recently found out that the US Government is going to make incandescent light bulbs a thing of the past in a few years. All you'll be able to get are those fluorescent bulbs and whatever other new-fangled things they come out with. Now, I am not averse to progress, but there has got to be a better solution to the energy problem than polluting everyone with that nasty fluoride light. First, they put fluoride in toothpaste. Then, it went into our water supply. Now they're going to force it into our light. Hmm. Conspiracy theories anyone? Stockpile those incandescent bulbs while you still have a chance. They might sell very well on ebay in a few years.

Sunday 30 December 2007
Well, it's almost the start of a new year. In case I don't get the chance, I'd like to wish all of you out there a very happy new year! I think 2008 will be a good one. At least I'm hoping so.

And for anyone looking for that famous first line of Greta Garbo, here it is: "Gimme a visky with ginger ale on the side. And don't be stingy, baby."

Saturday 15 December 2007
The other day, I had to do a reinstall of Windows XP. Fortunately, the machine wasn't completely dead, so I was able to grab the existing product key using a quite nifty program called Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder. If you've ever misplaced your product key (which is too easy to do), you'll find this program an invaluable addition to your toolbox.

Installing Windows is probably one of the most frustrating things you can do on a computer, especially if you don't have all the tools you need in one place. You've got to remember all your driver disks, updater disks, bug fixes, etc. Then, when you get Windows installed, you have to run the Updater, which downloads fixes that are necessary for your well-being. Without them, your computer becomes an immediate victim to whatever malware is out there. I have an old Windows XP SP1 CD-ROM. SP1 means "service pack 1". The latest version of Windows XP is SP2. Because of this, when I install Windows, it goes through the routine of updating SP1 with all the latest updates. Then, after it does that, it decides to install SP2. After it installs SP2, it downloads all the SP2 updates. Many reboots and several days later, your machine is up to date. Why Windows can't do this in a less mind-numbing fashion is beyond me, but it certainly makes for lots of good coffee breaks.

Friday 14 December 2007
There is something inherently wrong with inkjet computer printers. I don't mean about the technology involved. It's simpler than that. For the most part, they work great. But, doesn't it seem odd that you can buy a printer, complete with ink cartridges, for about the same price as a new set of ink cartridges?

A while back, I had to buy new cartridges for my Epson R200 printer. I went to the local Staples and took a look at the prices. They wanted $69 for a set of 5 new ink cartridges for the printer. But you could buy a new Epson R220 printer for only $79 with an instant in-store rebate of $20, making it $59, or $10 less than just the cartridges. So, what's make better money sense? Buy a set of cartridges for $69 or a printer that comes with those same cartridges for $59? I bought the printer, thinking it would be nice to have an extra printer in case anything happened to my old printer. However, I still have my old printer, because I got used to it and didn't want to bother installing new drivers for the other printer (probably didn't even need new drivers come to think of it). Now, I have no idea where that new printer is. What a waste.

Thursday 13 December 2007
Let's talk about snow globes. I'm a big fan of them. If I were a collector, I might even have a big shelf of them in my home, but since I'm not a collector, I don't even have one of them. But when I see them, I do enjoy them.

However, I'm not a big fan of those huge inflatable ones that people sometimes put in front of their houses during Christmas season. Somehow, it seems a bit cheap, like they didn't really want to spend the time and effort to do some real decorating and instead opted for the plug in inflatable space-taking lawn ornament with a pseudo cheery scene inside. There's nothing cheery about a lone inflatable globe on an otherwise barren strip of land, especially when the fake snow starts sticking to the inside and obscures what it is you're supposed to see. Then, there's the ones that start leaning to one side because of a hole or other defect. An inflatable leaning tower of Pisa would give more cheer than Santa trapped inside an orb of sticky snow, looking like a sad reject from some ill-fated stage production of the Wizard of Oz, mouthing the words "I'm melting, I'm melting!" And the result of that incantation are those mounds of plastic you see on some lawns where a big inflatable globe once stood. Was it the neighbor dog that did it in, or maybe an angst-ridden teen? Or perhaps a drive-by shooter looking for targets. In any case, let's ditch the big inflatable objects and go back to something a bit more traditional.

Of course, I'm not great Christmas decorator myself. My big thing is going to be going to Home Depot tonight to purchase our Christmas tree. I'm hoping they still call them Christmas trees. I know that Lowes was toying with the idea of calling them "Family Trees" at one point. Just makes you feel all warm and runny inside, doesn't it?

Wednesday 12 December 2007
I'm looking for a reason to upgrade to Leopard. I really already have a reason. It's called Time Machine. It's a cool, new feature of OS X which allows you to go back in time to almost any state your machine was in, or just grab a previous version of a document, or whatever. It's basically a backup program, but it has a very nice interface, and if I had the extra $99, I'd buy a copy of Leopard so I could have it. There are plenty of other features, so it wouldn't be a waste of money, but I just can't get myself to part with the $99.

If only I had friends at Apple. I used to, but that was then and this is now. Oh well, Christmas is coming...

Tuesday 11 December 2007
I like my watch. It's a Timex Expedition Indiglo. It's a great watch, though. Has day and date and is purely analog, which is a refreshing change from my Casio Atomic digital G-Shock watch I replaced it with. However, the calendar takes some getting used to.

Right now, my watch is telling me that it's the 10th of the month even though it's really the 11th. It thinks that all months are 31 days, and you have to manually adjust it when the month has less than 31 days. I haven't done that yet. I've kind of forgotten how to, but I'll get around to re-learning it soon.

All this digression brings me to the true reason for this post. I have a fascination with time. Yes, I would call it bordering on obsession. Ever since I was little, I remember asking my father about time. One thing that really amazed me was how the days took place in chronological fashion. I really didn't understand why this was the case. I remember asking my father, "if today is the 21st, how do we know that tomorrow is going to be the 22nd?" I couldn't get it into my child-sized brain why the days of the month had to be in order. I suppose some part of me still wonders why this has to be the case.

Tuesday 20 November 2007
Our local McDonald's started doing something really nice a while ago.

They started putting the cream and sugar into your coffee for you, instead of you having to do it, which can be an extremely dangerous enterprise while driving, not that I've ever attempted that... However, the "in the cup" service is spotty at best and really depends on who is at the window on a given day. Sometimes, they'll get it right. Other times, they might put it in one coffee and leave the other black. Other times, they just give you a small bag with all the cream and sugar and a couple of stir sticks. Once, I specifically asked for "4 creams and 4 sugars in each coffee" and I said it several times very slowly. In return, I got 4 creams and 4 sugars in one coffee and plain black in the other. Oh well. It's McDonald's, right? What can you do about it? On the other hand, if you go to In and Out, more likely than not, you'll get someone who speaks perfect English on the other side of that intercom, and they haven't messed up my order yet. Plus, they are very polite. Contrast that to the workers at Jack in the Box who look like they'd rather stick a knife into the side of your car rather than give you one to spread that butter substitute on your English muffin.

One of my funniest drive through experiences was at the local Wendy's. The person on the other side of the intercom asked me what I wanted. I said in a very slow and monotone voice, "one small vanilla frosty." In return, he asked me if I wanted "one large chocolate frosty." I repeated "one small vanilla frosty", and he repeated, "one large chocolate frosty?" It wasn't worth the city hall fight, so I relented and got what he wanted me to get.

Monday 19 November 2007
Well, that was premature, wasn't it? I thought I was back on track, but I was wrong. Well, here will be another effort. A few days before Thanksgiving, and I'm going to try this again. Not much to say today, except that things are well, and my son Nick is back at nanowrimo.org again.

If I had a wee bit more time, I'd be doing it as well, but you know how things are...

My grand experiment is going to be to see if I can increase the amount of money I can earn each month from Google ad words. In my heyday, I was clearing over $100/month by having that small Google ad panel at the top of my blog. But that was then, and this is now. I am determined to give it a really good shot, which means I'm going to have to start putting up some useful stuff that people might actually think is interesting. It's a stretch, but I'm going to give it my best college try...

And in case you were wondering why this blog is so ugly, it's because I don't use blogging software. I hand write everything in html. Not that I'm bragging, as I really couldn't code my way out of a ziploc bag. I think the real reason I'm doing this by hand is because I'm too lazy to install some decent blogging package. I've done it for others, but when it comes to my own site, well, you know how it is. It's much easier to do something for someone else than for yourself...

Wednesday 9 May 2007
Due to popular request, I'm back at blogging again! I see by the looks of things that I have a lot to catch up with, so during the next few days, that's what I'm going to be doing. A lot has changed, but a lot has remained the same these past months. One thing that has remained the same is my constant war with invading ants. I've got professionals on the job now, and I'll report on how that goes as things progress. Anyway, it's good to be back, and I'm hoping that I will be making regular contributions to this blog, as I have the time. If anyone wants to email me, none of the email addresses at celestin.com work any longer. That's a purposeful change, as I was getting tens of thousands of spam messages daily to all sorts of made up names at that domain. If you want to email me, you'll just have to wait until I post a new email address or put up a form that will allow you to email me but keep my spam down to a minimum. Thanks for your understanding and patience!

1 October 2005
Ah, the frosty month of October. Time of witches, goblins, pumpkin pie, and harvest festivals. I've got this month to decide whether I'm going to enter that National Novel Writing Month competition. I'm still undecided, though I think my son Nick will enter. He likes to write fanfiction, which is fiction based on a pre-existing world that someone else has created. For example, the Tolkein world of hobbits and elves, or the science-fiction fantasy realm of Star Wars. I don't understand the appeal of doing something with someone else's world, but I suppose there is an appeal. After all, there have been some movies I've seen where I really didn't want them to end, and I would wonder what things happened to the main characters after the house lights went up. I suppose that's what fanfiction is about.

I'm taking this month off from writing in order to prepare myself for nanowrimo.org. Yes, I have decided to give it a shot!

If you are looking for earlier musings, Click Here.