05.21.06

First and foremost, thank you to those of you who responded to my query below as to where you are from, how you discovered this site and/or why you visit.

I truly appreciate you taking the time to comment.

I was motivated to make such a query by looking at my "referrer logs" and the respective "location" of the web site's visitors. I found it fascinating that this journal was being viewed from all over the world. However, now that I have waited for two weeks to see who responded and where ya'll are from ... I am convinced that most (if not all) of the far reaching international visitors are actually the internet spider "bots".

So ... again, thank you.

For the first time in a few years, I am looking at the typed words of a journal entry without wearing reading glasses.

Did I have corrective surgery?

No ... (darn it) ... I finally broke down and bought a desktop Dell PC and bought a 20.5" UltaSharp Digital Flat Panel monitor.

What a pleasure it is to be able to read the news websites, various blogs/journals and email without having to first search for a pair of my drugstore reading glasses!

Oh, and glory be, this computer kicks bootie!

It is a Dell XPS 200 that I customized for maximum business use performance. It is small, sleek and extremely fast: the tower is only 3.5" wide and a foot tall! Heck, I have dictionaries bigger than this thing! And whoa Nellie, it is fast ... with the Pentium D processor and 2 GB of SDRAM, the speed is stellar when using my business database program, ACT.

I am not a gamer whatsoever (um, perhaps FreeCell when I am bored) and I was having problems finding a system that matched my business needs because most of the PCs these days (for homes and small offices) are geared towards multi-media and gaming.

It arrived on Friday and I have all the business programs and data transferred and ready for work on Monday!

When I was injured and could not walk for 8 months, I bought a Dell notebook that was top of the line (at the time) ... I rested it on my stomach/chest from a laying position and continued to run my "real life" business and my web design business from flat on my back in bed. Even to this day, the Inspiron 8200 that I bought in 2002 is slick, fast and extremely durable.

However, in October of last year, the hard drive on my notebook failed ... and it was my sole computer. I had never previously been without two fully functioning and data ready PCs ... and so, when the notebook went kapooey, I was up processing creek without a megabyte! Of course, Dell replaced the hard drive but the span of time between waiting for a replacement and restoring my data ... well, it was just unacceptable to me.

That experience has been nagging at me for the last six months, so one night a couple of weeks ago ... in the wee hours of the morning ... I went to Dell.com and took the plunge.

The monitor is so bright, clear and beautiful! I took a few minutes to look at "sweetaspirations.com" to see what it looks like with this "UltraSharp" digital imaging ... and was pleasantly surprised that the old look of the site still maintained its visual integrity.

Even more surprising were the "linkware" sets that I created for Structures By Design back in 2000-2002 ... it was a nice discovery to see that they too, held their color, pixelation, etc. even though they were created on a Sony Trinitron 17" analog monitor so very long ago.

Anyhow, enough of this rambling.

I hope that you are all well and planning for a wonderful summer.

Remember please ... sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen!

[08:00AM PST] [Permalink] []

05.09.06

Mmm ... mmm ... good?

I wonder what the folks at match.com and eharmony.com have to say about this?

This takes having dinner with your internet romance to a new level, eh?

I have been curious who comes to this journal: where are you from (city, state, country, etc.) ... and how you found it or know about "sweetaspirations.com" ... or have you been reading it for awhile?

If you have a moment or two, leave me a brief comment and let me know where you are from and how (or why) you visit this site.

Referrer stats provide some data, but they leave me wondering.

Just curious.

Thanks!

[08:10AM PST] [Permalink] []

05.02.06

Whoa ... it has been over a month since I wrote a journal entry.

Boy, how time flies.

Anyhow, I was reading this article about John Daly (for those of you who do not follow sports, John is a big bear of a man who has been known to drink until uncontrollably drunk, smokes and has a bad temper - - and he is a player in the most genteel of sports: golf).

There was a point in time when Daly was on top of his game: winning and creating fans throughout the world. He had maintained his weight and appeared to fit into the "typical golfer" ideal. However, he was a "typical golfer" who could drive the ball remarkable distances.

John, throughout the years, has had his share of problems with multiple divorces, a couple of stints in alcohol rehab (because, after 30 months of sobriety, John "fell off the wagon"), anger management, and marital issues.

He became increasingly overweight and I watched him play a round of golf smoking a cigarette between holes. This, by the way, is unheard of in sports. Even in "indoor sports" such as billiards or poker (if it is even considered a sport) ... the players do not smoke while engaged in their sport.

John thinks he is a musician and released a country CD in 2002 (which, I understand, totally bombed) ... and he has been known to hang with his buddies from Hootie & The Blowfish, who love to golf.

So, about the article ...

John admits that he has replaced his alcohol addiction with gambling and has "lost between $50 and $60 MILLION dollars gambling".

Holy slot machine, Batman ... that is a lot of moohlah!

Gawd, when I think of all of the good that could be done with that kind of money.

Anyhow, while the amount lost is beyond pathetic, I found this section of the article the most telling:

"Daly says he has taken more control of his life in the last six years.

"I'm off those ... medications. I don't drink JD [Jack Daniels] anymore. I don't beat up on hotel rooms and cars as much. Only gambling remains a problem," he wrote.

He said he plans to start at the $25 slots in the casinos and set a "walkout loss number," which would tell him it's time to leave.

"If I make a little bit, then maybe I move up to the $100 slots or the $500 slots, or maybe I take it to the blackjack table," he wrote. "It's their money. Why not give it a shot, try to double it? And if I make a lot, I can ...

"Well, that's my plan."

Um, John ... not gonna work buddy. That is like saying you will get off the booze by just drinking a wee glass of wine and if you do not feel high, then perhaps a couple of shots of tequila might be okay.

Such a shame - - - so much talent, so much ability to positively affect the world of golf ...

... but instead he is awash in a world of delusion.

[07:15AM PST] [Permalink] []