Happy Earth Day everyone!

Heather and I didn’t time our tree planting around Earth Day, but that’s ok because we do care about the earth. This weekend we planted 3 new trees in our yard. This is significant because our yard doesn’t have a single tree in it. Reminds me of the house/yard I grew up in which also had no trees.

In the front yard between the sidewalk and street we planted a RedPink Flowering Dogwood. In the back yard, we planted a RedSilver Maple and a Colorado PineBlue Spruce (pictured).

So what did you plant for earth day?

CORRECTIONS

I had the tree names wrong. We purchased a Pink Dogwood, Silver Maple and a Colorado Blue Spruce.

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We had someone come out and measure our yard this past weekend to see how much a new fence for the yard would cost. There are a lot of home improvements I would like to make to our home but the fence, oddly enough, is becoming 1# on the list. My sister told me about her fence quote, so I’m a little nervous. I priced out the materials, that part of the job isn’t that expensive.

We currently walk Ty 2+ times a day and walk him around the yard 1+ times a day. Both Heather and I are starting to feel like we’re holding him back on the leash though. He can really run if you let him. So a fenced in yard will really help him out.

I’ve been thinking about a lot of home improvements we can make. The HGTV improvement shows really put ideas in your head, one week I want to re-do the kitchen, the next week I want to redo the bathrooms. In reality, we really don’t have any pressing home improvements to make. But it is fun to think about them.

Here’s my dream list:

• Ceiling lights for the 2 smaller bedrooms and in deep closet over the stairs.
• Finish the basement - This is one that we may want to do once we have kids.
• Redo the deck - The decking on the deck is in pretty bad shape. luckily the under framing is in good shape, this should be a project we can do this year, if we have the funds of course.
• 1/2 bath - The sink drain needs some TLC. I got the replacement drain last weekend, I just have to find the time to replace it. We also purchased a new faucet for that sink.
• Master bath - The master shower needs some TLC, and the 2 sink counter us ugly.
• Garage - Insulate, drywall, add electrical outlets on west wall and add shelving.

I can always dream right? What sorts of home improvements do you want to do to your home and why?

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I’ve created a Wordpress plugin called Subscribe Sidebar!

If your familiar with my blog, you’ve seen my Subscribe sidebar before. Now it’s available as a plugin for Wordpress. I got sick of copying/pasting the HTML from theme to theme and after Todd Chochrane requested the same links for the RawVoice Blogs I decided it was time to put it in an easy to install and configure plugin.

The plugin may be added to the sidebar by either utilizing the dynamic widgets sidebar feature or adding a few lines of code to your theme’s sidebar template. Configurable options include links for RSS 2.0, Atom, Podpress podcast Feed, add to Google Reader/Homepage, add to My Yahoo, add to iTunes, add to Zune and follow on Twitter. I constantly get a steady stream of people asking for my twitter name, so now it’s under my subscribe links in my blog, I can now refer folks to my blog.

So, what do you think of the plugin, is it useful for your blog and/or podcast?

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I’ve been doing a variety of small home improvements over the past few months. Okay, you got me, I didn’t install the new dishwasher, but I did let the guy in!

Computer Desk Completed!
Back in November, I made my own computer desk from white laminated lumber from Home Depot. My original intent was to buy regular lumber with specific dimensions. When I arrived, the salesman showed me the laminated lumber, which had the benefit of having a finished edge, something I was worried about where the keyboard would be resting.

So, the story. I had measurements all figured out from a 4′ x 8′ sheet of 5/8″ lumber. The laminated wood was not sold in that size. The biggest size was 8′ x 30″, which is the pefect depth for the desk, but meant I would not have enough material on the sides. I made a decision to have the 8′ length cut into one 4′ long section and two 2′ long sections. I also purchased a 4′ x 10″ sheet to use as a vertical support for the top of the desk. I walked out the store spending less than $30. So I got home, put the desk together, and it looked great. (see photo)

Just like a little kid, I rushed the desk up the stairs, cleared a spot for it in the office and started setting up the computer. I got everything situated on the desk, fired up the computer, lined up the keyboard then came to the quickest realization that something was wrong. Yes, something was really wrong! I couldn’t place my feed under the desk, the table was so low my knee was pressinng against the table top! So I looked at my design work, and discovered that I originally planned on the sides of the desk being 30″, but now they were 24″ from my last minute change at the home improvement store.

So the first month, I lifted the desk up about 3″ with some blocks of wood, which was all it needed. A week went by, and finally one of the blocks popped out from under the desk and man did I have a bad day. First I went to both Home Depot and Lowes to see if I could find caster wheels or small desk legs to try to raise the desk up slightly. No such luck. Finally, the day ended with a trip to Bestbuy and an investment in a $80 computer desk.

So last week, I was at Home Depot picking up supplies for the kitty litter gate and guess what I found, caster wheels for the desk! I’ve installed the wheels and the home made desk now has a 29″ clearance for leg/knee room!

Kitchen Faucet
Heather and I picked out a new Kitchen faucet in February. It’s a Delta, made in U.S.A. and has a chrome finish. Our main goal was to find a nice looking one handle faucet.

It took a month before I finally made the time to install it. Installation was easy. The salesman did not tell me I should use a special silicone to seal the faucet against the sink. Hopefully I’ll get that taken care of this Easter weekend.

Kitty Litter Gate
This is sad to say, but our dog will get into our cat’s kitty litter box. We’ve come up with a lot of creative locations for the litter box so Ty can’t get to it. But recently we decided to keep the litter box in the bathroom. We have a double sized vanity with one sink, so the other side has a nice opening for a trash can, laundry basket or in our case, kitty litter box.

So last weekend I created a gate using outdoor lattice. When I went into Home Depot, I was planning on purchasing wood lattice. To my luck, they sell vinyl with framing trim that’s easy to cut to size! Plus, the vinyl was easy to roll and pack into my car. Putting the gate together was pretty easy, as you can see it’s not too complicated.

Once we put it in place, we were worried the cat wouldn’t like the gate or worse, would not fit through the opening. Luckily, the cat slips through the opening like it’s her special door and the litter box is getting plenty of use!

Dish Washer
Last month we bought a new dishwasher. It’s working pretty well and we’re pretty happy with it, but it does have one engineering flaw. I’m going to wait till we’ve had the dishwasher for 2 full months before giving it a complete review, but expect a blog post in the near future on the subject.

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Anyone in the Central Ohio area who is a blogger, podcaster or social networking enthusiast/expert should be aware that there is a potential meetup group organizing called the Columbus Social Media Cafe. Yesterday was the 4th SMC meetup and I gathered that they are just now working on defining what the goals are of the group and plan on forming a mission statement. You can read more about the last meetup at Elephants on Bicycles and This Woman’s Work blogs.

When I arrived, I found myself briefly explaining what PodCamp and PodCamp Ohio is. I was not prepared to make any sort of presentation at the meetup but I did my best. This was a learning experience for myself, as I found myself speaking to a crowd of bloggers who are aware that podcasting should be included in their space but don’t exactly have a grasp on what exactly podcasting is. I also mentioned briefly some of the viral networking techniques that PodCamp Ohio is using in order to market the event to bloggers, podcasters and social networking enthusiasts.

I learned a lot from the meetup. What I found the most interesting was what they are envisioning; a social networking web site that pulls in feeds of blogs and podcasts and provides social networking features such as tags and comments. The group would be the perfect customer for the RawVoice Generator, which does pretty much what they want. One of the organizers mentioned someone who is in the process of developing such a tool that the group could use, so I didn’t quite feel comfortable mentioning that my company already has such a product on the market for more than 2 years now. The process they are undertaking made me feel vindicated that the past 3 years of my life that I’ve spent developing such tools is of real importance, not just globally but also for the local community. There is real potential for blogging and podcasting to connect with its local communities, and I for sure want to be involved in helping that happen here in Central Ohio.

I hope they can create a brand/logo soon and put in place a scheduled meeting time using not just meeting spaces in the public but also utilizing those social media tools that are so important such as TalkShoe/BlogTalkRadio for on-line recorded phone meetings and Google Group public mailing lists. At the moment the only way anyone can participate is by attending the public meetings, which may limit the audience size of participants. The more opportunity to let someone be herd, the more opportunities that will be used by those with the means. I’m pretty confident they will pick up on these other tools soon.

I am a little concerned that some of the founders organizing the Columbus SMC group found PodCamp Ohio somewhat threatening. I hope they did not get that impression cause it is definitely not something meant to compete with other groups with similar goals. PodCamp is a social event with the primary goal to bring bloggers and podcasters together to share knowledge and network with each other. I hope the Columbus SMC organizers don’t feel threatened by the event, that’s certainly not the events goal and I am confident that’s not what Chris Brogan or Christopher Penn intended when they created PodCamp.

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Last summer, I purchased a new computer, right away I had to swap the new keyboard that came with it (HP Pavilion) with my previous worn down IBM keyboard. Well in October, the keyboard wasn’t working so well so I hunted through the house till I found a keyboard I could live with. Oddly, it’s a HP corporate keyboard from about 10 years ago. It works ok, I am typing on it as we speak, but a couple keys aren’t as reliable as they should be. So last week I went to Microcenter and purchased a $30 Microsoft Keyboard. It was the cheapest keyboard that had a normal keyboard layout with the 2 key wide backspace key. It also had the normal 6 keys between the mail keys and the numeric pad. Many keyboards are starting to re-engineer the 6 keys (insert, home, page up, delete, end and page down) in non standard ways. If you’re a programmer like me, that completely sucks. Some of the keyboards have a 2 key sized delete key and have removed the insert button completely. I don’t know what keyboard designers are thinking lately!

I used to always buy IBM brand keyboards but since they left the desktop/laptop computer market, they no longer sell keyboards. Oh how does that suck! In my opinion, IBM made the best keyboards.

So I’ve been trying out a Microsoft keyboard out for about 5 days and quickly came to hate it. I finally disconnected it and plan on returning it. It did have softer key action, which was keeping my wrists from getting tired. Now I am using this old HP keyboard, my wrists feel like someone stuffed rocks in them.

So the last keyboard I used that I really liked was the Dell Multimedia Keyboard pictured. This and its non multimedia variant were pretty well designed keyboards, the keys were where they should be and the space in front of the keyboard allowed you to add your own wrist pad.

There’s a few other little things about this keyboard I like. First, the mute button is on the right hand side. The Microsoft keyboard had the mute button on the left, which doesn’t help me at all. The volume control is an actual dial on the Dell, which doesn’t matter for me because I usually use the windows controls for that anyway. It makes a nice holder for my wedding ring when I feel the need to take the ring off while working.

So today, I ordered a new Dell USB Multimedia Keyboard. With shipping it was about $33.

What kind of keyboard are you using? Are you as picky as me as far as key placement?

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Heather made Buckeyes! Peanut butter and chocolate has to be the best combination ever thought of.

This recipe was pretty simple. The tricky part was melting the chocolate. Heather came up with a creative setup, she took a spaghetti pot, flipped over the strainer lid and then put a glass bowl on top of the strainer with the chocolate in the bowl. It worked perfectly! No need to invest money for a double boiler when you’re married to a genius!

Here’s a picture of a Buckeye compared to a Reese’s miniature peanut butter cup. There’s a lot of peanut butter in a Buckeye!

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Okay, you got me. I use the slogan “I love cheese” a lot. Here’s why:

Link: The Power of Cheese Commercial

The commercial dates back to the 1998/2000 elections and was used for the “Ahh, the power of cheese” series of commercials. Check out the actor who plays “Hayes for President”, he later was president in the TV show 24 a few seasons back.

And in all honesty, I do love cheese except for a couple specific cheeses, such as Feta and any cheese that’s moldy except for Parmesan. Parmesan is supposed to be moldy, right?

Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/2of2ws

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Last night, Heather and I went out to dinner for Valentines Day. When we got home, the dog was extra hyper running all over the house. So a few hours go by and I went to the kitchen to get an oatmeal cookie. They’re gone! I searched around the kitchen thinking I put them somewhere else. I ended up finding them in the living room with only a few crumbs remaining. These cookies were in the new packaging with the rip away top, somehow Ty knew how to pull back the top and get into the packaging. There wasn’t a rip/tear with his teeth anywhere. That explains why he was so hyper.

So this morning, I woke up to the most awful stink. It’s the dog’s farts! I took him on his morning walk and everything came out as normal. Then 3 hours later, the dog is barking, biting my pant leg and pull me away from the computer. So I took him out, and within minutes he did his business. Man it was nasty. Luckily it went on a sheet of snow, I just scooped it all up with the snow and put it in the bag.

Now here is the funny part. After he was done, he ran across the sidewalk where there was a lot of snow, backed up slightly, then sat right down with his butt directly in the snow (pictured above). What ever that oatmeal did, it either made his butt itchy or on fire. Never the less, it was the funniest thing I’ve seen. And he kept getting up and doing it again!

Unfortunately, I don’t think he is done, He still has gas and is acting strange. Hopefully this taught him never to eat my cookies.

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I’m proud to announce that podcastFAQ.com is now available. podcastFAQ.com aims to be the starting point for podcasters and enthusiasts looking for information relevant to the industry.

The web site came from conversations Brian Yuhnke and I had following my visit to PodCamp Arizona. Many session speakers referred to tuns of web sites for podcasters to go to for information on specific topics. At the end of the day, I had about 40 different web sites to check out and they weren’t organized very well. About the same time, Rob Safuto left RawVoice which put the documentation responsibilities on the rest of the RawVoice team. After a few chat and phone conversations with Brian, we came to the conclusion that a wiki would be the ideal way to get the site started.

Once we discussed the idea with the rest of the RawVoice team, everyone at RawVoice went to work taking our own scattered documents and organizing them into the site you see today. As we were developing this web site, Todd Cochrane found the ideal domain name in his portfolio of registered domains, podcastFAQ.com.

As we developed and organized the content, we quickly discovered that we had a lot of missing information. To keep with the feel of the industry, we decided to make the home page of the site as honest as possible to encourage others to contact us with ideas and content.

We made a soft launch of the site last week to members of Blubrry, PodcasterNews and Tech Podcasts Network. Everyone has been very supportive of the site and it’s unbelievable how much content we’ve received already.

If you’re a podcaster or interested in learning about podcasting, please check out podcastFAQ.com. If you have some ideas for content or suggestions, please feel free to fill out the contact form. Your help will make the site better for everyone!

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