It's a bit past midnight so I suppose this qualifies as an entry for the 19th. After my daughter wrote 'DADDY' for Father's Day I was proud enough, but tonight she threw me over the top. She called me on the phone. She dialed it. Yes, she still had a bit of help (thank god), but she knows her numbers and calling me gave her a reason to want to know the numbers. For this I'm happy - if not a bit trepidated by the fact that she can now run up a long distance bill.

Managed to outbid a professional on eBay for a doll she wants for her birthday. Now that I've been through a few dozen auctions I really don't like the place. Their last-minute crush is a bug, not a feature. I really don't like having to play the game of leaving fourty bid windows open and firing them off like a machine gun in the last twenty seconds of the auction. But I managed to win this one without such theatrics so what the hay. She gets the doll. I get points. Could be worse...

Oh I got the kitchen knobs done, in case you were questioning whether or not I'm a slacker.

Decided that I still have a mission which was cut short due to my desire to go into the commercial software world a few years back. I've spent many a night thinking about how to revive that mssion, and I managed to come up with a plan. I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you and that's no fun. Grabbed a new domain to go with the product, and now I just have to write the damn thing. Lovira.COM - you figure it out.

Sticky fingers - or Stucco 101 (lesson 2)

Found out there are lots of good reasons why people don't apply stucco with their hands. The fact it's horrendously messy is only one of them. It does go on with a bit less waste; however you also end up with telltale finger grooves everywhere and it's probably impossible to trowel them all out later. Having said that, I actually like the look because it gives a very rustic and personal character to the result. So I'll probably continue doing it that way. But the real drawback is the lye in the stucco turns your skin into plaster no matter how much you try and wash it out. Even lotion doesn't help much. So next time I'll probably try with gloves.

Managed to set up one of the other boxes as a backup system for the web site (finally). I really should know better than to leave important files without a recovery plan. Got lucky this time... however I've got a lot more files that would take a great deal of time to re-create. I better get them covered as well.