Nashville, Tennessee isn’t known for it’s winter snows.  Usually we’re lucky to get a dusting of snow, that’s gone the next day. But, thus far this winter, we’ve had two “serious” (for Nashville) snows.  Right now, I’m inside with a steamy warm beverage, looking out at six inches of snow.  It’s still flurrying on-and-off, and it’s so still and quiet outside.

It’s blowing slightly, enough that walking into the wind is a very cold affair.

There are so many things I’m thankful for, this Thanksgiving Day, 2009.  Not just the obvious things, like a new fiance’, or that I’m still happily, gainfully employed.  I’m thankful for the blessings God has granted me. My beautiful, intelligent children.  My mother being put on the list as a candidate for a lung transplant.  All of the people I communicate with daily, using this marvelous Internet.   And of course, not the least, though I have listed it last, my health.

I look forward to seeing my son, and his new wife, this evening, as they come visit, on their merry rounds, trying to keep all the new in-laws happy.

The very lovely “soon-to-be” Mrs. Root is very pleased with her very lovely engagement ring, (and has seen - and oooh’ed and aaaah’ed over - the matching wedding band). To be thoroughly modern, and all that jazz,  We’ll be exchanging tokens that include Carbon.   In her case, Diamonds, in mine, Carbon Fiber. Her son was heard to exclaim “So where’s the pimpin’ big ring from?”

Once again, I realize that I haven’t posted anything for several weeks.   I apologize for the lack of communication.

Life changes.  And when it changes… it frequently changes suddenly, and sometimes, without much notice.

Today, August 12, I came across a twitter post saying “Microsoft banned” so I looked it up. Apparently a Texan Court has ruled in favor of i4i the company who owns the patent on the technology that Microsoft Word uses to read and write XMLbased files. These filetypes include *.xml *.docx *.docm. Will this be the first of many patent lawsuits against the software leviathan? I will post more information as I find out more.

*update*

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, and there have been a lot of changes, in the past 2 weeks.

Two weeks ago, I was happily engaged to a wonderful woman.  Today, I’m not.   Two weeks ago, I didn’t have to think about where my life was going.  Today, I’m recovering from being forced to find shelter for my 7 year old daughter.
The upside of the entire situation is that, on a Sunday afternoon, with no social services available, I was able to find an apartment, and get sufficient furniture in place to be able to take care of my daughter, by bed time.  I was able to arrange for Daycare for the princess of All Evil.

For those of you that happen to have an iPhone 3G or are getting an iPhone 3G-S this is a must read. (please note, links are provided for those that have no idea what I am referencing so they can find out)

As you all know Apple has recently upgraded the iPhone OS to 3.0, on the laundry list of features is Internet Tethering. AT&T claims not to support it but in fact it works like a charm showing up as standard iPhone Data usage. Now you may be thinking, I have a BlackBerry, I can tether with it if i pay $30/month, why is the iPhone so cool? Simple. Over the 3G connection on the iPhone 3G/3G-S you can be in a call with the handset or using a Bluetooth headset, you can be texting and using the internet on that nice MacBook. But not only can you do all that at the same time. You can take that shiny new MacBook, ans share the connection out to the Wireless and Ethernet adaptors (yes, both at the same time). Meaning you can connect 2 clients via the WiFi interface and 1 or more (would need a hub or switch) clients via the Ethernet interface. This means you can provide an internet connection to a decent sized group of people anywhere you go.

What PETA says...

Here’s something rather unexpected.  You would hope to expect better, from an organization that claims to care for animals.

The following story is from This is True dated 17 July 2005. It is Copyright 2005 Randy Cassingham, all rights reserved, and reprinted here with permission:

“Ethical” Defined

After more than 100 dead dogs were dumped in a trash dumpster over four weeks, police in Ahoskie, N.C., kept an eye on the trash receptacle behind a supermarket. Sure enough, a van drove up and officers watched the occupants throw in heavy plastic bags. They detained the two people in the van and found 18 dead dogs in plastic bags in the dumpster, including puppies; 13 more dead dogs were still in the van. Police say the van is registered to the headquarters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and the two occupants, Andrew B. Cook, 24, and Adria Joy Hinkle, 27, identified themselves as PETA employees.