This whole week I have been analyzing some new software we are getting ready to implement with some of our customized applications at the day job. The first part of this analysis meant reading a 300 plus page manual of the new software package, so I could discern whether there were significant changes to the structure of the code or not.

Have you ever printed a 300 plus page manual on your black and white laser printer that is over 10 years old? Thank goodness I had stocked up on a couple extra Toner Cartridges recently, because I burned through what was left of one of them just printing this manual.

After reading through the manual, I had to type up a report, based on the changes I found, so our development team would know exactly what needed to be done to complete the project. My analysis was precise, and even then, it came out to more than a dozen pages. I know the guys at the office will be stocking up on some Printer Ink of their own, because they too have to print the huge manual as well as several copies of my report.

I haven’t seen this much use of Printer Ink & Toner Cartridges since we completed the initial project, where a customer wanted a printed report daily on changes we had made.

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In the past year I have updated more of my tech toys than I have at any other time in my history as a tech junkie. I have the newest cell phone (in fact, I just traded it in so I can get the new iPhone 3G next month), I have an awesome digital camera, and of course my favorite device, the Nokia N810.

Until I got the Nokia N810, I had no idea how much I would enjoy the GPS function and routing. I would love to have GPS vehicle tracking built into my truck so I could see all the places I have gone in the past couple months. Being able to review a track of my vehicle would be an awesome add-on.

While some think that vehicle tracking is a bit too invasive, I think it is something that could benefit a lot of people, and their companies. As long as the devices are not used to track people without their knowledge, people shouldn’t have a problem with it.

By using GPS fleet tracking many companies could benefit by streamlining their delivery routes, optimizing their schedules so drivers don’t cover the same area twice, and improving customer service response times by dispatching the closest repair team. The possibilities are endless.

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There are a few things I do everyday, no matter what. I always make coffee in the morning, I always get dressed before noon (I work from home you know). And I always check my Daily horoscope.

Yeah, go ahead an laugh if you want, but I have a way of doing things that is borderline ritualistic. I cannot function in the mornings without caffeine, so the coffee is a definite plus. I never know when the UPS guy is going to show up, so it’s best to be dressed before he makes his way out to my neck of the woods. And many years ago my horoscope gave me the impression that my significant other (at the time) was Cheating on me. She was.

So, while you may be laughing while I go through my daily routine, remember one thing. Those three things in my routine have never failed me, so of course I am not going to stop doing them. Many people discount the information in their daily horoscope, but I for one know they can be spot on, and they are most of the time. They have helped me with important life decisions, Tips for a job interview, and even picking the day that I would propose to my future bride.

Now that I have told you some things in my daily routine, what are some things in yours?

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This coming Sunday I will celebrate my 10th Father’s Day. I cannot believe that we have lived here in Georgia for more than 10 years already. It seems like just yesterday when I was walking with my future wife through a casino in Las Vegas. We had been discussing marriage on our way to the dinner buffet.

When we got home that night, she agreed to marry me (not knowing you can get married in Las Vegas 24 hours a day). We spent some time that evening visiting all of the different hotel/casinos on the strip, walking Las Vegas Blvd just to see the lights. Since I grew up there, it wasn’t that spectacular to me, but my wife sure thought everything was pretty cool.

I used to spend a fair amount of time in the casinos in Las Vegas. I wouldn’t spend too much money, but I enjoyed eating at the restaurants and playing the games. I found it to be quite relaxing after a hard days work. Soon after we moved here, I signed up at an online casino so I could play a little on the weekends. While online casinos don’t have quite the same atmosphere as those in Las Vegas, I had a lot of fun.

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With the economy slowing down the way it has, many consumers are tightening their belts and some are relying more and more on using their credit cards. It’s important at times like these to make sure you choose the right credit card which offer low interest rates, no annual fees, and other options which work for you.

If you travel a lot, you should be using a card that earns airline miles. If you commute everyday, one of those gas reward cards would probably suit you better. If you are going to use credit cards, you should, at the very least, choose a card that has 0% or very low interest, no annual fee, and the ability to consolidate your credit cards into that low interest account.

At least this way, if you need to use your credit card, you know you’re paying the lowest amount possible for doing so.

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I blog a lot about different health related topics, and I hardly ever touch on one such topic that remains very important, and life threatening. Mesothelioma is a type of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

Asbestos, as you may already know, is highly toxic and was used widely in the building of homes, schools, and office buildings. Those who are regularly exposed to asbestos have a 7 to 10 times greater chance of developing Mesothelioma Cancer than those who were not exposed. If those who are exposed also smoke they face a risk up to 100 times greater.

I decided it was time to discuss this topic, becaus in the past three months we have had several scares within our own family. My mother in law was worried that she might have cancer, but her tests finally came back negative and we all breathed a sigh of relief. Soon afterward her sister found out that she has stage four cancer and has started an intense treatment program. The mother of my brother-in-law’s wife has been fighting lung and kidney cancer, and although her prospects look good, we all worry about her daily.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they have all faced a higher risk of cancer. All three of them worked in different industries where the chance of developing a Malignant Mesothelioma is greater than in other places.

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I have been trying to decide if I should come up with a whole new look for Slobokan’s Site O’ Schtuff. I am thinking, if anything, I need a brand new logo. So I set off tonight to look for a logo design.

LogoYes has a really kewl demo you can try out where you can choose the image to use in your logo, then add any words, etc. It was pretty fun messing around with it, but as you can imagine there are only so many ways to work with the name Slobokan.

The whole process of creating a logo and then choosing to order it (along with matching business cards) takes less than 10 minutes, 15 if you are more creative than me, and it’s all done in a nice web based flash application. There were so many images to choose from I couldn’t decide, but I finally settled on the bullseye.

If you’re looking to create a new brand for your company, or even just for your blog or other presence on the internet, LogoYes has the tools you need to do it right.

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Hockey, Detroit, Red Wings, Pittsburgh, Penguins, Stanley Cup
It wasn’t the greatest game in the history of the sport, that’s for sure, but tonight’s game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins was okay.

It’s no surprise the Detroit Red Wings have a Swede to thank for a prime-time performance, but Mikael Samuelsson?

The demoted forward busted out of a slump with two goals, and Chris Osgood stifled the Pittsburgh Penguins’ young and talented stable of forwards with 19 saves to lift the Red Wings to a 4-0 victory in the opening game of the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday night.

I don’t know if it’s the fact I am patiently waiting for tomorrow’s Coca-Cola 600 or what, but I wasn’t too impressed with the game as a whole. The Red Wings did a great job and they made the Penguins look pretty bad. Hopefully game 2 will be a bit more exciting.

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One thing I find funny with blogging is how I don’t hear from certain people for a very long time, then I do a post about something and I get messages like they were just talking to me yesterday. First, a friend of mine in Las Vegas messaged me when he read a few posts over the last couple days and asked me why I hadn’t talked about the cable TV deals in his area. I told him that it might have something to do with the fact that I am not in Las Vegas, or even the fact that I myself cannot get cable tv at my current location.

Apparently there are some really good Cox packages you can get when you sign up out there. These deals sound awesome and once again I am left hoping for the day that cable becomes available in my area. Heck, I would help them lay the lines from the main road if they would just come that far. I would do just about anything for the choice of Cox on-demand, so I could kick back and watch something when *I* wanted to see it.

Anyway, my friend went on and on about the Cox special offers being offered out there and wanted to make sure I mentioned them to you. Ironically, the second friend that contacted me was asking if I had heard from the first friend recently.

The entire time I have been typing this post, I have been downloading a dozen pictures from one of those friends. The bandwidth from my current provider drives me nuts. It took my friend about 2 minutes to upload all of the files to my server, so far it has taken me 12 minutes to download four of them. Yeah, I need one of those deals, and I would give a special offer to get it.

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Three months ago, the day job office changed over to a whole new phone system that seems to be working out just fine for everyone involved. You see, the system we had was old. Very old. In fact, I have been working with, or for, this company for a decade and until they switched things over, the phone system was the same as when I started working with them, and the voice trees were the same as well. Talk about an antequated system. It drove me nuts.

Now we have a system that optimizes our voice, video and data communications. People at the office are still getting used to the VOIP Phones., but honestly, for the end user, what is there really to get used too?

One thing I know for a fact. Since we upgraded, our servers have not been down nearly as much as they were in the past. With professional installation, training for some of the staff, and support for the our new system that supports those VOIP Phones, we seem to have a better grasp on the world around us.

That’s saying a lot for our company. Now, if I could just get them to cancel the early morning conference calls in favor of some late afternoon e-mails, life would be awesome for sure.

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