weissblog

Another officer and I got to talking about this a while back and I’m just now getting around to posting on it. It seems that many states in the US have two different ages from which they judge you by. For instance, in Arkansas, if you are 18 then you are a legal adult. You can vote, you are arrested as an adult, you can now sign contracts on your own, including the contract to join the US military enabling you to fly to a foreign land and fight in a war. But, because you’re only 18 you can’t buy alcohol, you can’t ride a motor cycle without a helmet, nor can you cross the river into Mississippi and go gambling. For those privileges you have to be 21.
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Well, it’s been a couple hours and I’m still screwing with this new version of MT. While I was upgrading it, I realized what a kludge my site was and I’ve been trying to redesign everything instead of just being happy with what I had. It’s just that I use drupal on my other sites and I’m used to having a choice between an article and a page. The closest thing that MT offers is the choice between an entry (like this) and what they call a template. Okay, so I design a template for my portfolio (I did), then I change the layout of my site (again, I did). Now I have to go back to my portfolio and rework the whole page to fit the new layout. That doesn’t sound like a template to me. So, I’m going to play a bit with something called ‘basename’ that is now available in the create new entry screen. Maybe that will provide me with the ability to create what I’m wanting without having to update it every time I get crazy and redesign the site.

My ever so lovely hosting company (1&1) sent me a webcam (Logitech Quickcam Express) as part of my recent contract with them. Since then I’ve installed, uninstalled, reinstalled, the drivers for this darn thing at least 3 times. And up until just a minute ago, every time I tried to use it, my computer would turn off and then reboot. I’m still not sure why it was doing this, nor am I sure why it quit doing it after the last reboot. But, at least it’s working… crappy pictures though. Eh, what do ya expect I guess, it was ‘free’ anyway.

Life has been busy. The time for the consolidation of Helena and West Helena draws near. Some are still trying to fight it. Others are preparing for the upcoming mayor and city counsel elections. In a ‘funny’ twist of fate, the local school board is having to have an election as well, ordered by the state department of education

I see all this as the first step in the direction of economic revitalization. And, to take advantage of this I’m looking to open a couple businesses. There is absolutely nothing in this town to do as far as entertainment is concerned. So I’m looking at opening an arcade/pool hall. I’m also talking with some people and doing a bit of research on movie theaters.

Now I’ve also been looking at some franchises but I haven’t found anything suitable. If anyone knows of a donut shop franchise that would be willing to move into eastern Arkansas let me know. Oh, and hold the jokes about a cop wanting to open a donut franchise, unless you’ve got a unique one.

The new town will have a population of a little over 15,000. The county population is a little over 26K. Median income for the county is 22K. Available workforce is just over 10K.

Oh, and my wife is looking for a job that she can do from home. Since she’s left her last job as a loan processor at a local mortgage company, we’ve had to hit my savings just to pay bills each month. We’ve tried looking online and everything looks like a scam. If I could get her interested in helping me with some of my own websites we could make more, alas she’s no longer intrigued by web development. Anyway, if anyone knows of a legitimate company that lets people work from home let me know, please.

Many of you have probably already gotten an email about storing a phone number in your cell phone with the name ICE, but I wanted to do a post about it for those who haven’t.

The ICE concept was the brainchild of Cambridge-based paramedic Bob Brotchie, who works for the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust. He discovered that most accident victims carry no next of kin details, yet most carry a mobile phone.

So the idea is simple. Think for a moment who you would want the paramedics, police, or emergency room staff to contact if something was to happen and you were unable to communicate. Add that person’s phone number(s) to your mobile phone under the name of ICE (which, by now you’ve probably realized, stands for ‘in case of emergency’). Now, the ICE website lists some good tips that you’ll probably want to read.

Also, realize that if you choose a number that’s already in your phone, it may display ICE instead of whatever other name you have the number listed under.

And for those that read somewhere that this is a virus, quit believing everything you read. When in doubt, check out www.snopes.com

In closing, I just want to say that I think this is a great idea. I’m surprised no one put this together sooner. However, you would still want to include some ICE information elsewhere. Cell phones are easily lost or broken so always have the same information elsewhere (wallet, purse, etc.).

Okay, now you can leave and tell yourself not to worry about all this because ‘it won’t happen to me’ since that’s what everyone thinks.