still waiting...

to get some useful assistance from the kind folks of blogger tech support or the blogger help group. so far i have been unable to get an answer to the question: "why can't i publish my template changes or settings without getting this generic server error"? this all has to do with my upgrade to blogger-beta, which in hindsight was a decision i made prematurely. so, until then...we wait. at least i can still post updates & stuff. there will be no changes to this template (layout) or formatting until the publishing problem is fixed.
more soon...

update
my blog is still not functioning 100% but it's close enough now where i think i can deal with it. it appears as though i can make changes to my template and save the edits. also my archives will link to the correct pages it's just that the archived links from the archived pages still don't work. it bugs me a little but i doubt if it really effects anyone other than me :-(. onward & upwards - life is too short.

getting closer?

i just realized that when i made that last post, all of my archives changed format from (example), "04.02" to "April 2002". amazingly the archive links from my main page now seem to work? i noticed that when you get to the archive link that archive format is still "04.02" and those links do not work. hmmmm...time for bed.

don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things...

i have spent a good part of the weekend trying to figure out this dead archive link problem. obviously the recent upgrade to blogger beta hosed the way my template and archives are supposed to publish via ftp to my webhost :-( this is frustrating on many levels but i will be patient and try to wait it out til it gets sorted out. i have been all over the message boards, google blogger support groups, have changed settings within my blogger dashboard related to archives & publishing via ftp and have not figured this out yet. clearly it looks like blogger released it's beta program without adequate research on how it effects publishing via ftp. i have submitted an offical cryt for help from the blogger support team so until they either, a. fix the problem on their end, or b. tell me how to fix the problem on my end, you will be limited to seeing only my current, & last few posts. this is something i can live with for awhile but i want it fixed! otherwise i could start shopping around for a new way to blog.
had a great thanksgiving...took a couple of pics which can be viewed here.
hopefully some good news in a few days.

technical difficulties, please stand by

thirdthoughts has learned that the entire archive section appears to be offline. we suspect that this has to do with the recent "upgrade" to blogger-beta. the archives should reappear (in theory) once i can get in to republish the archives but the blogger server appears to be toast at the moment. thirdthoughts regrets any inconvenience this may cause and is kind of ticked off at itself for even upgrading in the first place.

more proof that it is a world gone mad...

tgdaily.com has confirmed that a sony playstation 3 has recently sold on ebay for $15,000.00

the less useful side of the internet...

i haven't laughed this hard for days. apparently there is a website called "singshot" which is an on-line singing community which provides access to thousands of songs and allows you to record your own version of songs and have others listen to them online (a.k.a. making an ass of yourself for others amusement). i only previewed a couple but they are truly some of the worst singers i have ever heard. if simon cowell thinks he's heard the worst, he obviously hasn't looked here yet. there may be some talented singers out there on singshot but clearly not in the few i checked out. check out nkay, age 15, from the uk, covering the song "take on me" by the 80's pop band a-ha. you'll never make it to the end...

a bite from the apple?...

of course today is the day microsoft unleashes their version of apple's ipod, the zune. i have researched the zune and it seems to have some admirable features, including a huge (by comparison) 3" lcd screen and the ability to view photos in both portrait and landscape mode. there's also some sort of built in wi-fi functionality although i'm not sure if you can purchase tunes using that feature or not...(ok, i haven't researched it that much). i haven't held one in my hand yet so i can't compare it directly to an ipod but i think that generally speaking, competition in the area of digital music players is a win for the consumer.

will i be buying one? no, at least no time in the near future. i'm still set with my 3rd gen ipod, but i wouldn't rule it out some day down the road.

it's way too early to know if the zune will be a legitimate player in the digital music player market or not but this will no doubt fuel the fire that exists between hardcore macvangelists and windows extremists.

• update: i found this interesting. the zune is NOT compatible with microsoft vista. how is microsoft supposed to force you to update your OS AND buy a zune? i'm sure the developers are hard at work rectifying this issue as i type.

6 weeks left until christmas...

just an observation...not necessarily the theme of this rather bland post. a few random things. blogger apparently re-vamped their entire back end. i have "upgraded" to the version "blogger-beta", which promises loads of new and improved features. hopefully all of this will be transparent to you. speaking of upgrading, i also upgraded all of my computers to itunes 7 this weekend. also did some scanning, downloaded some stuff via bit torrent, and burned a dvd. i know this is all very useful and interesting information.
i spent a good part of saturday trying to round up the remaining leaves in my yard. ten more bags to the compost pile. never get'em all but that was probably my last serious effort.
nothing new to report on the job search. i'm in my "laying the groundwork" phase and am just trying to remain patient. it's easy to find a job but a lot harder to find that perfect one. we'll see what the coming weeks bring.
more later...

comment: by the way, it's too early to be hanging wreaths on your front door, or stringing lights, or listening to christmas music. do NOT rush the Holiday season! if you must string lights on your house already, you should NOT illuminate them for any reason on or before november 23rd. thank you.

sticker shock...(a rant)

i will never, ever, wear the "i voted" sticker. why do so many people feel compelled to put that sticker on? is it a desire for instant gratification? as if, "i may not see the results right away, but hey, they gave me this little red sticker as a reward, so..at least that's something". is it to make a statement like, "i know very little about the actual candidates or issues here, but by wearing this sticker i can at least temporarily fool some people into thinking that since i voted, i obviously must be more informed and enlightened than you."? why do they even give out the stickers? what if you vote after work? isn't the whole point to announce to the world, or at least everyone you come into contact that day that you did in fact vote? would someone actually stop after work, vote, and then wear their sticker on their 5 minute drive home?
first of all, it's really nobody's business if i voted or not. should i be expected to tell everyone that i meet throughout the day that "i voted, but i choose not to wear the sticker", or, "i'll be voting after work"? watch them give me "the look" like, "spare me the lies". it is my contention that there are a few people out there who actually vote just to get the sticker. yes, really...hopefully a small percentage.
need another reason not to wear the sticker? it damages some materials...such as leather. it actually once left a permanent sticker sized mark on a nice leather coat of my wife's. what do you think the sticker people would have said if we'd gone back to ask for compensation for the damage? "hey, that's the chance you take when you tell everyone that you voted"!
do i think you're a bad person if you wore an "i voted" sticker today? not necessarily... if i saw you, i just assumed that you used it to cover a coffee stain on your shirt or jacket, the only acceptable reason to wear one.

before & after....

here is the proof that i did not spend my entire week watching dr. phil and oprah...

clarification: the order of the pictures is confusing. bathroom was white before, now a delightful emerald green.

downtime...

i took the whole week off of work this week to: A.- use my vacation time (or lose it - NOT an option), B. - get some stuff done around the house. i was able to paint my bathroom, do yardwork, transfer the summer gear to the shed, haul out the winter gear, queue up the snoblower in case it snows this winter, visit the compost pile, wal-mart (our coffee maker died), and the library, plus a slew of other things i can't remember at the moment. i feel like a bit of a slacker cuz i have been staying up extra later and getting up just in time to see the kids off to school, but it'll be short-lived as i get back into action next monday. in some ways i think allie will be fine with that.

halloween 06...

the kids braved the cold and scoured the immediate neighborhood for the usual assorted treats. "dorothy" was the first to succomb to the elements, as expected, and she will be the first to remind you that she had the thinnest layers on. noelle assumed the role of "the witch" complete with green skin and broom, and owen was in fact a "real fire fighter".
here are the pics.