Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Comic break



I'm taking a quick break from working on next week's comic to post a quick pic of what's under our Christmas tree, because I think they're cute.


Here's a bonus pic that I took in our back yard on Sunday. Yep, it was icy! Still is, as a matter of fact. Whee!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Good memories

Here's a great memory for you. The Nisly's have had a family reunion for many years now—just celebrated the 40th anniversary. We call it the Nisly Campout. While it is currently held at a campground, everyone sleeps inside (either a cabin or their RV) and we cook in a kitchen, eat in a dining hall. Inclement weather isn’t a big deal with the current facilities.

Back in the day, though, it actually was camping. There were tents, picnic tables, and cooking over an open fire, or at most Coleman stoves.

Rain was always an issue—always.

So what do you do when you're eight and it’s raining and you're camping? Play on the playground, of course! Complete with mudholes!daniel and craig in mud

This is one of my favorite memories from the Nisly Campout: My cousin Daniel and I making use of the facilities despite what others saw as poor weather. We spent a lot of time in this mud hole, and were proud of how dirty we ended up being.

Update: Thanks to Elsie Bliler for the photo!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Hard drive speed

I found this fascinating article from Tom’s Hardware on how hard drives are made.  The whole article (18 images with accompanying text) is pretty interesting, but the most interesting slide is this one

Consider this little comparison: if the read/write head were a Boeing 747, and the hard-disk platter were the surface of the Earth:

  • The head would fly at Mach 800
  • At less than one centimeter from the ground
  • And count every blade of grass
  • Making fewer than 10 unrecoverable counting errors in an area equivalent to all of Ireland.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

You're drinking what!?!

I can't believe it. 

Once again this morning I made a cup of cappuccinocappuccino for me and Kathy.  That's the fourth time in the last couple of weeks that I have made (and drank) cappuccino.

For those of you who don't know, cappuccino is coffee.  Coffee!

I'm pretty sure at one point in my life I swore I would never drink coffee.  I didn't really like the taste anyway.  I guess I'm older and wiser now, although that may be debatable. 

Christa is to blame!

While we were in Virginia for Thanksgiving, she made some and offered it to Kathy.  I was still on my high horse so I declined.  However, Kathy liked it so much that when we got home, she went and bought a cappuccino machine, complete with milk frother and steamer.  Now, I've always liked the smell of fresh ground coffee so I was curious what she was making and she offered me a taste. 

Now I'm getting up early enough in the morning to make us both a cup before I take her into work.

*sigh*

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Haircut

Well, Kristi and Kim, it only took me about a week. But here you go.

Kathy haircut 1
Kathy haircut 2

Here are pictures (finally!) of my newest haircut. On the left you see it straightened with the ends turned out. On the right you see it curly. For some reason my hair is now reasonably curly on its own, after years of being only wavy.

Below you see it straightened with the ends straight/turned under. And, as a bonus, you see it curly-ish with glasses.

Kathy haircut 3

My nose is crooked so my glasses never sit straight!


This is a new cut for me, and I decided to try something different from my normal cuts. I like some things about it, but I'm not as happy with it as I'd like to be. So I have an appointment to get it touched up more to my satisfaction next week. =)

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Christmas tree

IMAGE_00001-782569

We put up our first Christmas tree in our house!