I’ve got nothing to say this morning. Too busy to think. So I am posting a picture taken in the state of Maine. Why? No reason other than we will be going to Maine on vacation in a couple of weeks. Granted, this is Old Orchard Beach which is no where near the lake we will be visiting on our vacation, but what can you do. I’ve got bug fixes to patch.

I can’t remember where I found this, but I read a great article on Gizmodo today titled, “How Yahoo Killed Flickr and Lost the Internet“.

It’s a great history on how Flickr was kept from reaching its potential by Yahoo’s corporate machine.

Yahoo is a mess.  I can’t imagine them staying afloat for all that much longer.  When they go under Flickr will go under too.  I am somewhat dependent on Flickr at this point.  I’ve got way over 20,000 images stored there and I do not see any viable alternative that has everything I want.

What I want is:
unlimited storage
ability to set privacy levels on a per-picture basis
a social structure that is open to both users and the public

Facebook is close.  Google+ is close too.  Neither does everything that I want though.

What the hell am I going to do when Flickr goes down with the Yahoo ship?

Hopefully Yahoo will either spin Flickr off into its own company and let it become independent again.  Fat chance of that as Yahoo will lose money that way.  They could also sell it.  If they do, hopefully it will be to a company that does not have its head firmly implanted in its ass.

Long Live, Flickr.  (please?)

Do you know what today is?

Today is, “one of those days.”

It has been, “one of those days” since about 4:30 this morning.

Do you know what last night was?

Last night was AWESOME!

My step daughter was involved in a rank promotion ceremony last night. She is now officially a black belt.

Yeah, you heard me. My wife’s amazing 11 year old daughter is a freakin’ black belt in karate!

I’m so proud. I swear my face hurt from smiling so much. What an accomplishment. It’s incredible. 1000 times, congratulations!

For the record, her nine year old brother is scheduled to test for brown belt soon. If he continues to work as hard as he always does, I may be writing a post like this about him in a year or so.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I am the luckiest step father alive. These two kids are amazing. I love them both so much!

These grow in our yard. Hopefully they won’t kill the deer.

Welcome to the Registry of Motor Vehicles!

I wonder if Billy Beane came calling about the Greek God of Walks.

Kevin Youkilis has been traded.  Everyone on Earth new it was coming, but it’s still kinda sad.  What’s even sadder is what we got in return.

I have to confess something.  I have not watched or listened to a Red Sox game in at least two weeks.  Life is pretty hectic right now and the Sox have taken a back seat.  I still try and catch the scores, and I still pay attention to the standings (hello 4th place!  WooHoo!) but I haven’t been watching games and I haven’t been following the story lines, although I know David Ortiz got pissed at the press the other day.  Good for him.

Kevin Youkilis, to me represents, all of the things that were bad about the Red Sox prior to 2004.  Hold on, let me finish.  The reason I say that is because he was the polar opposite of the prototypical Red Sox player.  Over my life there have been 100s of Sox players who gave the impression (accurately or not) that they did the bear minimum and cared more about their own stats than the team’s success.  I’m not saying all of them were like that.  Nomar wasn’t, in his prime. Yaz certainly wasn’t either.  Most of the players though seemed that way. 

Not Youk.  Never Youk.  Youkilis was not the kinda guy who made it to the majors on talent and then did only enough work to keep his job.  To me, he seemed to be 10% raw talent and 90% hard work and determination.  If we had had a few more guys like Kevin Youkilis back in the 70’s and 80’s the curse of the bambino (urgh, I am so sorry about mentioning the retarded “curse” that was complete bullshit written up by a hack of a columnist and then bought hook line and sinker by the masses) would never have lasted for as long as it did.

The press had been implying that there was a certain lack of warm and fuzzy feelings between Youk and Schmucko the Clown Valentine.  I fall squarely on team Youk in this matter.  Valentine is a joke.  I don’t blame Youkilis for any ill will that there may have been, in fact I sympathize. 

So the Sox had a less than completely healthy third baseman in the last year of his contract, who didn’t get along with the new douche bag of a manager, and they had a young, up and coming star of a third baseman who was ready to take the reigns.  The result is that Kevin Youkilis has been traded to the Chicago White Sox for a bag of pucks.

I wish you the best, Youk.  You are a hell of a player and it was a joy to watch you playing for my team for all of these years.  Good luck in Chicago.  I hope you put them over the top.

We did it, lawn mower. We put aside our differences and got the job done. I’m proud of you. I’m proud of us. Now get the hell outa my face for two weeks.

Okay, now listen up lawn mower. I don’t like you, and you don’t like me. But let’s put that aside and get this shit done so that we can go back to ignoring each other for the next two week, okay? Okay.