I finally replaced my server-side ZenPhoto photo galleries with something easier for me. I now use jAlbum for the galleries which should allow me to not have so many issues. Let me know what you think. Enjoy.

I ran my second 10K at Burke Lake, VA in 52:15.

Not quite a personal best but I'm really happy with that time since I've been swamped with house work like painting and climbing around on ladders.

I finally got around to cleaning up and posting my Run Time Calculator. This is what I use to track my progress as I prepare for a race. It uses no macros, only formulae and a couple lookup tables. It's in the zip file and includes sample data, a blank copy, and instructions. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks and enjoy.

RTC.zip (594KB)

The shooting at Sandy Hook has horrific; thank God for people like Penn Jillette who went on Wendy Williams' talk show to keep them straight and Ben Swann who provided a counterpoint for Piers Morgan's non-facts-based rant. Hopefully politicians will try to fix the root of the problem and not restrict the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. Just listen to how ignorant people are…what makes them think they should talk against guns? They use emotions rather than logic to make their cases...

I'm studying to take the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam and created a tool to help me remember the Process Chart (pg. 43 of PMBoK). It's a macro-enabled Excel file. Here's how to use it:

1. Open file
2. Click ENABLE macros
3. Click on the PRACTICE tab
4. Click on the button in cell G1 labelled CLEAR SHEET AND BEGIN TIMER
5. Type in the PROCESS MANAGEMENT PROCESS GROUPS and KNOWLEDGE AREAS; correct answers will turn dark grey and incorrect answers will be orange
6. Type in the STEPS; correct answers will be white and incorrect answers will be yellow
7. The total number of correct entries per PROCESS GROUP will be displayed at the bottom and will turn green when done
8. When you enter an answer it will turn to all uppercase; answers close enough to be counted as correct will be changed to the exact correct answer from the PMBoK (4th ed.)
9. Your percentage of correct answers will be in cell A1
10. I use fuzzy logic to determine the similarity of your answer to the correct answer, the similarity must be at least the percentage in cell A1 in the ANSWERS tab; you don't need to be exact, but you do have to be fairly close; this percentage is editable
11. The correct answers are also on the ANSWERS tab; they are editable; they must be in the same cells in the PRACTICE tab and they are in the ANSWERS tab

Craig's PMP Process Chart Practice (43KB)

British soldiers were spending Christmas Eve 1914 on a French battlefield during World War I. After four months of fighting, over a million men had perished in the bloody conflict. The bodies of dead soldiers were scattered between the trenches of the opposing armies.

It was in the middle of a freezing battlefield in France, that a miracle occurred! British troops watched in amazement as candle-lit trees appeared above the German trenches.
“From the German parapet, a rich baritone voice had begun to sing a song I remember my German nurse singing to me ... the grave and tender voice rose out of the frozen mist. It was all so strange ... like being in another world,” a young British soldier wrote in his diary.

“Silent Night, Holy Night. All is calm. All is bright.”

When the German soldiers finished singing, the British decided to retaliate. Rather than retaliate with the roar of a cannon, the army chaps from England sang,
“The first noel, the angels did say, was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay ...”

When the boys from jolly old England finished, “Born is the King of Israel!”, the enemy began clapping and struck up a rousing rendition of “Oh Tannebaum!”

When the British troops began singing, “Oh Come All Ye Faithful!”, it was at that moment that the Germans immediately joined in. They were singing with the enemy.

This was a most extraordinary event taking place in the middle of a blood-drenched battlefield! Two opposing nations were singing the same Christmas Carol in the middle of a fierce war. It is recorded that enemy soldiers greeted each other in the no man’s land that just minutes before had been a killing zone. Soldiers wished one another a Merry Christmas and agreed not to fire their rifles on Christmas Day.

Thousands of soldiers celebrated the birth of the Prince of Peace among the bodies of their dead.

A solitary voice began to sing “Silent Night” in French ... he was joined by another voice singing in German ... and finally the words were in English.

Who do you need to make peace with this season? Have you been engaged in a fierce battle that has extracted the very life from your soul? Christmas is a moment in history when peace is abundantly possible because of the Baby who came to bring peace for all of the ages.

A few months ago I submitted one of our favorite pictures of to NovaDog Magazine and we were informed she won first place. The photo's below but here's a link to the magazine.

That squirrel feeder I made a few months ago has attracted a lot of squirrels who've eaten a lot of peanuts. Recently we filled it with some raw peanuts and the squirrels kept taking them and eating them. But they weren't eating them all...Min-Ah and I found a sprout growing out of a peanut in the front yard. Since then we knew what a peanut plant looked like, we found about six or seven more little peanuts growing all over the yard. In the front, the back, the side, everywhere. It seems those squirrels were squirreling away (ironic, eh) all those peanuts. Last week the first peanut plant had a huge hole dug next to it and the adjacent flowerbed was all dug up too. Probably the squirrel looking for his peanut...but it wasn't a peanut, it was a plant, so the squirrel was baffled.

We've been plucking the plants out of the yard and planting them in the garden but they die shortly after we stick 'em in the dirt. We still have two growing strong: one in the flowerbed in the front and the other in the mulch around our persimmon tree on the far side of the yard. We're keeping our fingers crossed we get a peanut plant which would be pretty cool. Who knew squirrels are farmers.

Whenever Tira saw something she wanted to catch she'd chase it as fast as she could go. Usually she wouldn't even get close. Recently she started stopping to watch the "victim" then slowly walk towards it. When it would look at her, she'd stop and wait motionless. Once it looked away she'd start sneaking. She's gotten close to bunnies, squirrels, and birds using this technique.

On 28 May 2012 Min-Ah and I ran in our first 10K race at Burke Lake, VA. We had been training for a few months prior and race day was 42F which was probably 15 degrees lower than it was the day before. Anyways, Min-Ah set her personal best and I met my goal. Might try to run a couple 10Ks each year but we'll have to see about that...

Here's my time from the running log I'm using:

Tira caught two birds simultaneously the other day and last night she ran into a big bush and came out with a bird in her mouth. I made her drop it and it seemed fine. Amazing how easy it is for her to catch birds. Here's the new tally:

Birds	Bugs	Gophers	Lizards	Moles	Squirrels	Skunks
14	Lots	3	1	2	6	1

I've been making my own black bean dip for a few years and finally got around to writing it down. I think it's much tastier than store-bought bean dips, less salty, spicier, and much healthier. It's in the Recipes section and linked below for convenience. Let me know what you think.

Craig's Black Bean Dip Recipe (49KB)

A couple days ago I decided I wanted to run power to my workbench so I got an old 15A extension cord and plugged it into the ceiling outlet (e.g. for garage door opener) and held it against the beam running along the ceiling with RG-6 cable clips. I ran it down to my workbench and mounted the duplex outlet box to the leftmost leg. I then drilled through the back of the leg, ran the wiring in, wired the outlet and mounted everything. Then I went back and cut the power cable where it leaves the wall and goes to the workbench, added a female hospital plug to one end and a male to the other so I could disconnect the workbench to move it without having to go to the ceiling to unplug the cord. Looks nice and works great. I like it.

I built my workbench a couple weeks ago and finally finished my build plans to share with everyone. The workbench cost about $120 to make and is build like a tank (thus the title "M1A1"). Feel free to distribute the plans but please credit or cite me. I have provide the Google Sketchup file but I need to clean it up a bit to make it easier to digest. Enjoy!

Craig's M1A1 Workbench Build Plans (325KB)

I am happy to post that I finished reading the entire Bible today. I finished three days earlier than planned so I could beat Min-Ah who was also reading.

With the non-stop anti Christian barrage we've been enduring the last few years, let's go out of our way to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hanukkah" to each other. Our beliefs are what makes America strong and if they take that from us what's next? Show everyone this time of year isn't about gifts but about being kind and appreciating whatever we have. Merry Christmas!