Random Fodder

I received an e-mail from PayPal yesterday that was — get this — actually from PayPal!

The content of the e-mail had nothing to do with unauthorized access to my account, the need to update my login information, or the addition of a strange e-mail address. It was all boring stuff about the PayPal Money Market Fund.

The most interesting thing I noticed about this e-mail? Unlike every phishing e-mail, this one had no links . . . not even valid ones back to paypal.com.

This post was originally posted at The Smarmy Carny, Novac's general blog.

Snowmen: 0, Heat: 2

Of course, the one winter I resolve to build an igloo, we have the warmest January since 1932!
Temperatures finally fell below 32 degrees for a couple days and we got some snow . . . enough to build a couple snowmen. Two days later, this is all that's left of them. If snowfall doesn't pick up in February and March, I might just have to hope for an extremely snowy November and December.

See more progress on: build an igloo

I groggily pulled myself out of bed this morning. As I have been sick this week, I walked over to the glass of emergency orange juice I had poured myself before going to bed.

I took three large gulps of orange juice, and continued to the kitchen. I set the glass on the counter and headed for the bathroom. When I came back and approached the glass, it looked like there were cookie crumbs in my glass. Upon further inspection, there were three dead fruit flies floating on the top of the orange juice.

I quickly spit into the sink, with no obvious result. I opted not to induce vomiting for a few tiny pests.

The real unanswerable question is: How many fruit flies were there before I got up? I can only hope the answer is three.

This post was originally posted at The Smarmy Carny, Novac's general blog.

Running out

Today, I headed to Lake Erie for a Polar Bear Swim for charity.
The air temperature? A balmy 35° F.

I have read some things that mention the fact that the water temperature is often warmer than the air temperature. I assure you that today, this was not the case. The water was literally breathtaking. After completely submerging myself, I wanted to give out a large roar, but it took a good 10 seconds to catch my breath. Even getting out of the water wasn't really that cold an experience — except for the water in my shoes beginning to freeze!

I definitely think this was worth doing. I'm glad I added it to my list of 43 Things, or else I never would have taken the time!

See more progress on: polar bear swim

This post was originally posted at The Smarmy Carny, Novac's general blog.

This post was originally posted at The Smarmy Carny, Novac's general blog.

Happy new year, all. 2005 has passed and 2006 is here.

The down side? 2006 offers us the painful XXth Olympic Winter Games. The hockey I love, and some other winter sports are fabulous, but it's all preempted for 24-7 lame ice skating. It's sickening, and I'll surely post about this in depth in the future. Unfortunately, I can't blame the networks, because the numbers show that many, many people watch figure skating. Who are these people???

As promised, here is my list of 43 Things to accomplish in 2006:

1. attend a local government meeting
2. attend Sunday School regularly
3. Be a better blogger
4. Build a computer
5. build an igloo
6. buy a laptop
7. buy a washing machine
8. clean up my house and keep it clean
9. curb my road rage
10. eat healthier
11. eat with my hands
12. enjoy my family
13. exercise regularly
14. finish all the things I
15. Finish my website
16. Floss Every Day
17. get a job
18. get my a+ certification
19. go camping
20. go on a second honeymoon
21. have family devotions
22. Have people over for dinner
23. keep a loaded squirt gun in my car at all times . . . just in case
24. Learn Spanish
25. learn the Jedi Mind Trick
26. lose weight
27. make a time capsule
28. open the yellow pages, pick the seventh restaurant, and eat the seventh entree and dessert on the menu
29. paint my own abstract art
30. polar bear swim
31. Read all the "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" series
32. read the Bible in a year
33. Reduce debt.
34. Research my family tree
35. Send a message in a bottle
36. sleep in a hammock
37. spend ten minutes holding the door for people
38. stick to a budget
39. stop living paycheck to paycheck
40. stop procrastinating
41. take 43 photos of 43 places within 43 minutes of where I live
42. visit a windmill farm
43. win at the internet

You can also head to 43 Things or to my own 43 Things page on The Smarmy Carny and check out my list and progress.

This post was originally posted at The Smarmy Carny, Novac's general blog.