First Vacation Pics

Here's the first few pics from our weekend trip:


This is the Budweiser Wagon and one of The Clydesdale horses, as well as a picture of the stall in which he is kept.



This is a picture of the arch, and of ryan standing next to it.

Hopefully will have better pictures coming soon.

Memorial day fun

If you haven't been to the brewery tour, you should really stop next time your in St. Louis. It's amazing to stand in a room with 23 million gallons off Budweiser aging overhead. And to see 1950 cans coming off the line EVERY MINUTE really puts things into a new perspective.
From the brewery, its almost a straight shot to the famous Arch. If you have a skilled navigating team like we did, you still might Get lost trying to park. We ended up in Illinois.
While we didn't get to go up in the arch due to time constraints, we did get up close and personal, so Ryan could get an idea of just how big the monument is. Again, I'll post pictures later.
All in all, we had a pretty good weekend. We managed to stop for lunch and get back on the highway without getting lost. We might even make it home without too much trouble. We'll see.
I'll post pictures of everything when we get home, as well as whether or not we got lost on the way.
I hope you had as nice a memorial day weekend as we did.

What a weekend!

This weekend we took a short trip to St. Louis. Having 3 full days for the trip really gave us a chance to take our time and enjoy ourselves. It also gave us a chance to get lost about a dozen times. While a storm cut our Sunday activities short, we still found time for fun and relaxation. Saturday we took our time getting here, and missed an exit on the way. On the up side, I figure we only lost an hour or so as a result, and we saw some different scenery on the way.
After a few hours in the waterpark and a spin on each of Ryan's favorite rides (The Joker and The Screaming Eagle) we decided to head out and get lost on our way to a relaxing evening at the hotel. We also spent Sunday at Six Flags, but left early because tornado warnings had shut down all the rides. While leaving the park we decided to try and find a grocery store and got lost again on the way. (And again later that night when we ran out of bread in the hotel room.)
Monday was a day for visiting other local attractions and once again for taking it slow and easy. Allison and I wanted to see the Anheuser-Busch brewery, and get Lost on the way. Unfortunately, the hotel actually gave good directions this time, so we found it with little trouble. (Except that when we got there Allison missed the entrance, so we had to drive around the entire 70 blocks the brewery sits on to get in.)

Well, Allison is bugging me to come eat lunch, but there's more to come, including pictures!

Dough-Bituary

Veteran Pillsbury spokesman, Pop N. Fresh, died yesterday of a severe yeast infection. He was 71. Fresh was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Many celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, and the Hostess Twinkies. The grave was piled high with flours, as long-time friend Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy, describing Fresh as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Fresh rose quickly in show business, though his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half baked schemes. Even as a crusty old man, he was considered a roll model for millions. Fresh is survived by his wife. They have two children and one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 10 minutes.


Source: Uncle John's Unstoppable Bathroom Reader

Why run 5 different IM programs when one will do the job?

Here's a useful little app I think everyone ought to have. Or at least everyone who's been around on the net long enough to have two, or three, or four different IM programs and logins.

Trillian is a free program (with an upgraded Pro version) which allows you to log into all 4 major Instant messaging systems and IRC, with only one client.

Not only does this help clean up your system tray, but you have all your contacts in one list. Helpful icons show which service that person is using. With the Pro version, you can even create 'meta-contacts', which show One icon on the contact list for a given person's many IM identities. For example, I could create one 'meta-contact' called 'Brad' which would have brad's ICQ, AIM, MSN, and Yahoo messenger identities in it. If brad logs on to any one, or all, of these services, his metacontact will show online, but only show one contact no matter how many services he's logged into.

For those of us who've been using IM since ICQ was the only game in town, this is a real breakthrough to be able to get 'back to basics' by using one program to handle all of our IM needs.

Cerulean Studios: The Creators of Trillian and Trillian Pro IM Clients

Everyone welcome Chewie!

Just back from the local PetCo store, meet Chewie, our latest addition to the Whitcher family. Chewie and Rocky are very close in age, we estimate Rocky to be about 13 weeks and chewie to be 11 or 12 weeks old. As a result, they'll be sharing a room. Or rather, a cage in the corner of my room. (And, the rest of my room when its safe to let them run free.)

Another new family member!

Allisn, Ryan and I fell in love with Rocky so much, we've decided he
needs a friend! We're at petco now picking one out. Pictures and a
name to come when we get home!

How do you complain about poor service?

These guys were apparently really unhappy with the service at this hotel.  What a way to complain!

http://www.snopes.com/business/info/badhotel/frame.htm

Call your ISP's tech support lately?

It still amazes me how often I call support, or my credit card company, or any other large company, and speak with someone thousands of miles away. I've gotten people in India, Philippines, and various other countries of the world. Usually you get someone with an accent so thick you can only understand about every 3rd word. Then, to make matters worse, the people in these jobs are trained how to answer phones, but often don't fully understand the nuances of the job. Either don't have the technical knowledge that one expects from tech support, or don't understand American culture enough to handle some situations, or so on. It's nice to see I'm not the only one who's noticed...

Scamming a Scammer

Here's an interesting (and long) story. . . It seems this guy got one of the scam emails from nigeria offering to transfer millions through your bank account. In the end, he scammed the scammer for about $41.50. . . About time these guys get a taste of their own medecine!

Welcome to the 419 Eater

More Info on Ferrets

For those who aren't familiar with what a friendly, loving pet a ferret can be, check out this web site. It has lots of details on care and ownership of a ferret, and a FAQ for the un-initiated.

Domestic Ferret Information Site Ferret Proofing and Care

A New Addition!

We've recently added a new addition to our family. Meet Rocky the Ferret. Rocky was adopted from the local Petco store, and has quickly become a well loved member of the family. While he doesn't get out of the house much, he loves to run around the living room and play hide and seek. Not bad for an 11 week old, eh?