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I’ve been watching Manor House on PBS this week. It’s the story of several - over 30, I believe - people who have been transported back to Victorian times. Each is given a different role in life, and therefore a different class.

It’s been very interesting to watch the interaction, or lack thereof, betwen the Lord and Lady of the Manor, and the servants. I had always pictured the class separation between those two levels, but I never thought about the separation betwen the servants themselves. It’s been fascinating to watch.

I’ve also realized that I’d love to go back in time and live during that perid… but only if I’m the ruling class.
I highly recommend watching it if you get the chance. It’s on PBS, so you know there will be reruns, ad infinitum.

Yes, I am obsessed with obtaining a Spann bobble-head.

So much so that I have added an attempt counter on the left.

Wish me luck.

(Especially for those of you who think that I have too much time on my hands…)
The Jet Powered Beer Cooler - A New Zealander who likes his beer just a little cooler than the average person.

(Also the same individual who brought Star Wars ASCIImation)

My Dad just called to tell me that he’s now the proud owner of a James Spann Bobble-Head. He won it this morning.

He had the option of having it shipped to him, or picking it up at the station in Birmingham. Actually, he would have probably had me pick it up for him. He opted to have it shipped.

Smart move, Pop. If that Bobble-Head had made it into my hands, you might have never seen it.

I live in Alabama, for cryin’ out loud… not California!!!

USGS Earthquake Report: ALABAMA

Amanda and I both sat up in bed this morning, when our entertainment center started making a rattling sound. We were both wondering what in the world was making it rattle. Amanda got out of bed, walked over to it, and put her hand on it right when it stopped.

Then this morning we wake up to find out there was an earthquake North of us.

I’m used to Flash Flooding, Thunderstorms, Hail, and Tornadoes. But now I have to deal with Earthquakes too???

No luck today.

The other day I needed to remove some duplicate values in a list of columns in a table. This was to enable a Primary Key constraint. I thought that I had already written a script to do this, but could not find it. It took me about 5 minutes to write it, and since Oracle has now become the number one keyword by which people find this website, I decided to post the script here.

If you find it useful, or, worse, find any problems with it, please let me know.

A former co-worker, Nick, used to have an Einstein quote that came up daily… “Remember, my son… God does not play dice with the Universe.” I believe that, and know that nothing happens without a reason.

Remember my great car story from a few days ago? Things have gone haywire, since. I took the Altima in for service last week to have a drive belt changed and an oil leak checked. The mechanic couldn’t find the oil leak, but replaced the belt.

Amanda drove the Altima to her recording session on Friday night. When she got home, the car was overheating. I checked the coolant reservoir, to find it empty. Most of the coolant had drained out, and there was a much larger oil leak. I dropped the car back off at Gamble’s today.

Things have now gone off track. The oil leak was coming from a drive belt assembly, and will need the seal and O-rings replaced. Worse than that, the head gasket failed and caused the coolant leak. The overheating also caused the top of the radiator to crack. Total to get the Altima back in shape?

About $1000.

How ‘coincidental’ that it all happened after I made my last post: Car Talk, Believer Style. Part of me feels that it’s a test of my faith, the other part of me just wants to hurl. Regardless, we did receive a surprise last week that, by God’s timing, will pay for a good portion of the repair. But I had already made other plans for that little windfall, and that’s what hurts.

Oh, well. “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” is what Job said. I think I’ll join him. I just wanted to share how I still get stressed out over car stuff.

Now that I’ve posted this, I’ll pray that nothing else goes wrong. :O

For some reason, I have started collecting Bobble Heads. I currently have 3 on my desk at work: Andree Pickens (former UofA gymnast), Mike Piazza, and a Microsoft promo-bobble.

I’ve been wanting to expand my collection, and had been looking at some Peanuts bobble-heads. But those just went to the bottom of my wish-list. My parents told me about one this weekend, that I simply must have.

The James Spann Bobble-head:

To anyone outside of Alabama, that doesn’t mean anything. However, for those of us in the state, Spann is the ultimate weather-guy. He’s on TV non-stop when a tornado comes through the state. Plus, he goes to our Church, and is just a really great guy.

They are not available for sale. The only way to get one is through a phone contest. I saw one one Ebay today that had sold for $37.

I’m now on a mission.

Brian: “Brandon, where does Orange Juice come from?”

Brandon: “Oranges.”

Brian: “Brandon, where does Pear Juice come from?”

Brandon: “Pears.”

Brian: “So if Orange Juice comes from Oranges, and Pear Juice come from Pears, where does Apple Juice come from?”

Brandon: “Apple Cows.”

Brian: “Apple Cows?”

Brandon: “Yes. I saw some once. They have these things that you squeeze and then the Apple Juice comes out.”

From the mouths of babes…