An Xbox for Christmas? Not!

This video explains why my wife wouldn't buy me a game console (Xbox, PS3, Wii or the like) for Christmas. Very funny!

Aussie comedy group Tripod performing their song "Make You Happy Tonight" at a Comedy Festival

New Coke and Mentos Fountain

Its Out! The new Coke and Mentos video from EepyBird.com Follow this link and see the new best Coke and Mentos video: Coke and Mentos Fountain at EepyBird.com. See what you get when you combine 251 2 liter bottles of Diet Coke and 1,506 Mentos mint candies to a cool music score by AudioBody, "In The Now."

The Fisher Space Pen

I always liked this story, since especially as a computer programmer, my solutions are sometimes more complex then simple.

"When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 C.

The Russians used a pencil."

Now, I'm all for a good story, but the real truth is the United States and Soviets both used pencils at the beginning. An inventor Paul C. Fisher developed the Fisher Space Pen on his own and at his own expense without passing it on to NASA. Fisher did sell his pens to NASA at the utterly ordinary price of $2.95 each. From then on both the Soviets and Americas used the pen on their space missions.

For more on the story see the story at Snopes.com, http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp.

Wittingshire

I ran into this blog this morning and found it entertaining and enjoyable. The blog's name is Wittingshire and describes itself as "A unique blend of science, faith and lyricism (reading it is a bit like having tea with an educated, Christian hobbit)"

Want to Save the Environment? Have a Baby!

One more reason I'm in favor of big families.
Want to Save the Environment? Have a Baby!

True North Idahoans

YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TRUE IDAHOAN WHEN

1. "Vacation" means going east or west on I-90 for the weekend.
2. You measure distance in hours.
3. You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.
4. You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again.
5. You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard... without flinching.
6. You see people wearing camouflage at social events (including weddings).
7. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
8. You carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them.
9. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
10. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
11. You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.
12. Your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a deer next to your blue spruce.
13. Your kids wear snow boots to soccer matches.
14. Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his new pole shed.
15. Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost and/or snow.
16. You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.
17. You find 0 degrees "a little chilly."
18. You actually understand these jokes, and you forward them to all your Idaho friends

Praise You In This Storm

“Praise You In This Storm”
by Casting Crowns

I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as You mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will life my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

A Little Oedewaldt History

Recent contact from a distant Illinois Oedewaldt prompted me to google the Oedewaldt name for a little history. I found a wonderful glimpse of history in an electronic copy of "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Peoria County" originally published in 1902.

OEDEWALDT, HENRY J.; Farmer and Miner; born in the city of Peoria, August 26, 1856. He is the son of Casper Oedewaldt, born in Prussia, October 25, 1822, died March 14, 1895; and Catherine Odenwelder, born in Baden, Germany, July 28, 1830, and still living; they were married in St. Louis, Missouri, about 1844. The senior Oedewaldt was a carriage maker and established the first carriage and wagon factory in Peoria. In 1857 he purchased the farm where his son, Henry J., now lives. Henry J. Oedewaldt married Mary Colvin at Maple Ridge, November 16, 1881. They have eight children: Sarah Catharine, born November 1, 1882; Cleveland, born March 4, 1885; Henry J., born April 14, 1888; Roger, born September 21, 1890; Snowden, born March 7, 1893; Seth, born June 2, 1895; Goldie, born July 28, 1898, and Adam, born February 10, 1900. Mrs. Oedewaldt's father, Benjamin Colvin, was born in Pennsylvania and died in Indian Territory, April 6, 1900, aged seventy years. He married Margaret Goodwill, who was born in Hollis Township in 1835, and is now living in the Indian Territory. Jacob, the only brother of H. J. Oedewaldt, was born in 1860. He married Flora Calhoun and has seven children. The Oedewaldt family are Lutherans. Henry J. is a Republican, and has served as School Director.

I can remember my grand-mother, married to Roger, referring to Henry, Snowden and Seth. I'm pretty sure I took a car ride across Pekin with Great uncle Snowden back in the summer of 1984. In fact, we may have been on our way to visit Great Aunt Goldie.

So, Casper immigrated from Prussia to Illinois [1840's?] who had Henry [1856] who had my Grandfather Roger [1890] who moved to Montana where my dad, Elliott [1937] was born.

Wow, it would be interesting to fill in some more of this history!

Delete Duplicates In One SQL Statement

Using a Microsoft T-SQL extension you are able to conduct a self-join on a DELETE statement. The hitch is you cannot use an alias for the first table in the second FROM clause. This works best if there is at least someway to uniquely idenify the table. This will not work with Updateable Views since they do not allow self-joins.

DELETE FROM tblBlah
FROM tblBlah
JOIN tblBlah a
ON tblBlah.ClientName = a.ClientName
AND tblBlah.ClientId > b.ClientId

For a more complete examination see my test code below. Just copy and paste into query anaylzer and give it a run.

SET NOCOUNT ON
-- Create Duplicate temporary table
IF Object_Id('tempdb.dbo.#dups') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE #dups
CREATE TABLE #dups(
pk int identity(1,1),
Firstname varchar(50),
LastName varchar(50))-- Populate Duplicate table
Insert into #dups (FirstName, LastName)
Values ('Jack','Sparrow')
Insert into #dups (FirstName, LastName)
Values ('Jack','Sparrow')
Insert into #dups (FirstName, LastName)
Values ('Jack','Sparrow')
Insert into #dups (FirstName, LastName)
Values ('Will','Turner')
Insert into #dups (FirstName, LastName)
Values ('Will','Turner')
Insert into #dups (FirstName, LastName)
Values ('Elizabeth','Swann ')
Insert into #dups (FirstName, LastName)
Values ('Elizabeth','Swann ') -- The Table with all duplicates
SELECT * FROM #dups -- Delete duplicates and keep the min primary key record.
-- Reverse the comparison operator to keep the
-- max primary key record.
DELETE FROM #dups
FROM #dups
JOIN #dups b
ON #dups.FirstName = b.FirstName
AND #dups.LastName = b.LastName
AND #dups.pk > b.pk -- The table de-duped
SELECT *FROM #dups

Most infamous mascot moments

If you need you little bit of sports humor today, this is the place: Most infamous mascot moments.

Weekend Highlights

Best Moment: Playing UNO with the family followed by Smores around the campfire.
Oops #1: Sailing on the lake with one can of pop and tempratures in the 90's.
Best Quote: "My dogs are barking!" Mark's quote toward the end of the golf game.
Oops #2: Choking my opening drive at the Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course. How can the grass and dirt fly and the ball only roll?
Best Overheard Late At Night Camping:
Younger Son (3 yrs Old): "Are there Saber-Tooth tigers here?" (Ala "Ice Age")
Older Son: "No, they're all extinct."
Younger Son: "Naaaaa, they're not stinky."
Oops #3: Putting the boat license stickers on the kitchen counter where I can't forget them.
Out of context: Sitting around the campfire watching my son play Nintendo DS.
Oops #3 Recovery: Remembering 12 miles down the road.
Quiet Moment: Lying in the boat looking up at sail and sky during a lull in the wind.
Out of Place: Hot Coco, Graham Crackers, Marshmallows, Chocolate, Bedtime.
Dare-Devil: Boy + tricycle + bike helmet + hill + crash = fun.

Coke Is an Idiot But the Video Is Cool

My favorite financial site had this to say about the recent Coke and Mentos phenomenon, Coke Is an Idiot
Either way, this is a cool video of the explosive nature of Diet Coke and Mentos candy. You just gotta watch it.

The Separation of Church and Hate

The Separation of Church and Hate is an article I read over lunch today. John Fischer is the author and I appreciate his view-points. In absence of being able to express myself so well, I'll just add my "Amen" to John's comments.

Who Was St. Patrick Really?

My kids gave me my much needed morning dressing advice, "wear green today dad." It seems most people at work got similar advice and are wearing green today. So what is it about this guy St. Patrick? Is this special day about wearing green, honoring the Irish and drinking beer? The history has a little deeper roots then green Irish beer. Read this link for a litle more history. BreakPoint | Apostle to the Irish

The Guinea Pigs Cometh

It was only a matter of time until we had to fulfill our promise. I’m sad to say it, our daughter worked on improving her grades. Our promise to fulfill was a “pet of her own” and it “had to” live in her room. (You have to say the phrases in quotes dramatically to capture the true essence of daughterly emphasis.) Luckily, that ruled out the horse she’s asked for since she was five.

We researched and gave her a couple of choices. Turtle, rabbit, and guinea pig made the top of the list. After a visit to PetCo the choice was finalized and we came home with two guinea pigs, an instruction book, and all the furnishings needed for a life of guinea pig comfort. That very night we learned that the two male pigs will grow up to basically kill each other. (Why didn’t the PetCo guy tell us this?) The only answer is to… um… “remove” their aggressive male tendencies before they reach guinea pig adulthood.
Scamp and Scruffy are our two guinea pig additions. Their addition officially brings the house-to-pet ratio to 1-to-1. I fear a pet revolution if we add anymore pets and they realize their superior numbers. A revolution I might add, that would be lead by our cat Hobbes who scares even the dog.
After two weeks now, the guinea pigs seem to have been a good choice. My daughter loves them. Scamp and Scruffy have warmed up to her as well. They will come out of hiding at the sound of her voice, warble and “popcorn” around with glee. I’ll see if we can make a movie of their popping around since it is something you have to see. The only way to describe it is an epileptic leap, and means they are happy with energy and have no where else to go but up.
Until then, all I have is this movie of them running around, enjoy.

Orange County Weekly

Orange County Weekly has the guts to run a column "Ask A Mexican" that be hilarious as well as informative. However, be prepared for the politically incorrect and off color nature of his answers.
Growing up in San Diego I always had tons of questions about Mexican culture. Now, I know where to find some answers.

More General Tso's Chicken

Recipe Substitutions:

• I skip the peppers since my family does not like it very spicy. I substitute a Szechuan Style Pepper Blend mixture for the peppers.
• I add minced garlic to the sauce recipe.
• I double the sauce mixture because I like to eat it over rice.

I'll deep fry the chicken earlier in the day so all I have to do later is add the sauce.

Adding the sauce.

Yum--All I need is a bowl of white rice and I'm good to go.

General Tso's Chicken

Mike wrote such an inspiring tribute to General Tso's Chicken that I decided to try making it myself. I don’t consider myself a chef but I do like to eat so I like to cook new things periodically. Stepping out on a limb I decided to cook the General’s Chicken for my wife on her birthday since she like it as much as I do. Mike provided a recipe; I bought the ingredients (with a few substitutions) and took on the birthday present dinner. The results were very good. I have now earned a new dish to cook in the Oedewaldt household. It won’t earn a place on the weekly menu (it’s too time consuming) but it will earn a place on the occasional weekend craving for Chinese food. I quickly earned a second chance at cooking the General’s Chicken the next week for my visiting In-laws.

This Phone Is Not In Service

I had a little cell phone trouble today. I wonder if Telecom folks at work will be able to fix my "little" problem. I think it may DOA and beyond their expertise.

I thought I remembered clipping it to my pocket before heading out the door this morning. Next thing I know, I'm at church thinking I'd better silence my phone when it is not there.

Sadly, I did find it on my gravel driveway, lying there in cell phone silence, never-more to ring again in this life. It seems my phone couldn't keep quiet in church and made a break for it when I wasn't looking. However, before it could ring triumphantly in freedom it landed in the path of destruction. In a contest of gravel, electronics and tire treads, the cell-phone always loses. What else is there to say when your number is up?

Tomorrow I will bring its pulverized remains back to the land of Telecom and see if another valiant phone is ready to take its place.

Four Not a golf Term

Four (Not a golf Term)
Its my turn in this blog-chain. If I break the chain will I have X days bad luck? Better not take the chance.

Four jobs I've had

1. Data Warehouse Developer (Computer Programming)
2. Shaping test explosives for Airbags
3. Youth Pastor
4. Lifeguard & Swimming Instructor

Four movies I can watch over and over

1. Lord of the Rings (yes, all 6+ hours)
2. For the Love of the Game
3. X-Men
4. The Rookie

Four places I've lived

1. Sandpoint, ID
2. Moses Lake, WA
3. Rock Hill, SC
4. San Diego, CA

Four TV shows I love

1. Lost
2. CSI
3. Star Trek the Next Generation
4. NCIS

Four places I've vacationed

1. Cebu, Philippines
2. Oregon Coast
3. Hawaii
4. Disneyland

Four of my favorite dishes

1. Steak & Baked Potato
2. Lasagna & Garlic bread
3. Chicken Fettuccini
4. Chicken Fried Steak

Four sites I visit daily

1. Bloglines
2. Google
3. MSN
4. Weather Underground

Four places I would rather be right now

1. Sailing
2. At home with my wife & Family
3. In the woods—hunting or camping
4. Fishing

Four bloggers I am tagging (Your turn to fill this form out and pass it on to 4 others. I look forward to your posts)

1. Don
2. That all the people I know with Blogs