The management group which handles the Windsor Forest homeowners association has put up a website for the neighborhood. I think I can build a better one. So I registered a domain name for Windsor Forest and hope to populate it soon.

I’m all about building community, y’all.

I’ve hit upon a new fitness program. I call it the “Moving Fitness Program.” I wonder why more people don’t know about this highly effective program? Maybe because not enough people read MT.Net, but I digress.

Contrary to ten-step plans that others offer, this one is a nine-step plan:

1. Live in a ranch house with plenty of storage space.
2. Spend every weekend for two months fixing up said house.
3. Pack up boxes upon boxes of useless stuff.
4. Haul these boxes into a spare room for storage.

Now, we get into the really intense part of the program. Are you with me? I said, “ARE YOU WITH ME?!”

5. Buy a two-story house with less storage.
6. Help movers load up the truck. Pay movers by the hour for extra motivation. Rake in bonus points if the truck used is too small, as extra trips are good for fitness.
7. Help movers unload the truck. Pile your garage floor to ceiling with mystery boxes of junk.
8. Haul 40 pound boxes up and down stairs until you finally quit worrying about where each one goes.
9. Repeat step 8, for the next few weeks. Stay up past midnight every night.

Seriously, after doing all of this, I have dropped ten pounds. And not just a ten pound box, either! Ten honest to goodness pounds.

I have also been taking advantage of the nearby park and greenway. Three times already, I have hauled myself out of bed in the morning and wheeled the bike around the local paths. This morning, I rode 7 miles! This was following some warmup rides of 4-5 miles on previous mornings.

I hope to do more riding and make it a habit. I feel fantastic! Better than I have in a long time. There was always a cyclist in me, one that got neglected for far too long. I won’t let that happen again.

My blogmate Jamie Gaines posted about Bill Gates starting a blog. Reading that got me wandering around to other tech legends whom I thought would have more interesting blogs.

One of those characters is Steve Wozniak, the wizard engineer who built Apple Computer (hell, the whole damn computer industry!). According to his website, he visited the Pack Macintosh Users Group at N.C. State on April 26th.

I can’t believe this legendary man was in Raleigh and I didn’t find out about it until two months later. Life is just not fair.
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This weekend I tackled a large yard project. There were waist-high weeds in front of the treeline, making a jungle out of a significant part of our backyard. My mower and I spent a few hours and three tanks of gas to tame that jungle. Successfully, I’m happy to report.

As I was mowing, I kept finding these golf balls near the woods. I figured the previous owner liked to tee off into the woods behind the house, just for practice. After I discovered a few, I picked one up and gave it a look.
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Smart move on the part of Paul Bremer and the U.S. to give the reigns back to Iraq two days early. Sounds like just about everyone was surprised.

I hope this transfer can begin the long process of settling things down over there.

Talk in the office this morning about the television classic Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. I remember watching this show every Sunday, right before Disney came on.

Discovery’s Animal Planet channel hosts a new Wild Kingdom, but it’s not the same without Marlin Perkins. Anyone know if the old show is syndicated anywhere?

I spent 48 minutes on the phone this evening and talked (no lie) to five representatives, but I think Bellsouth may finally have straightened out my phone reference message mess. The key to the mystery was the repair rep telling me my five-years-gone phone number was somehow attached to this order! I think its because I initially ordered this change through Bellsouth’s (confusing!) webpage, and the site had my old number cached in it somewhere.

One rep told me the order had already processed itself through, whatever that means. Then I found out about the old number issue. I then spoke with a very helpful representative who filled out a “pink slip” change request, which bypasses the bureaucracy, I assume. She checked and double-checked my information just to be sure, and apologized profusely for the mix-ups.

In short, her attitude went a long way towards rescuing Bellsouth’s butt. If I didn’t make progress with this call, my next call was going to the N.C. Public Utilities Commission.

Now, the promise is by midnight Wednesday. Keep yer fingers crossed!

A religious coalition has put together an ad that has run on Arab TV which apologizes for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. It’s thirty seconds of powerful, beautiful words and it has already been warmly received by the Arab world.

The ad states:

“A salaam aleikum [peace be upon you], As Americans of faith, we express our deep sorrow at abuses committed in Iraqi prisons. We stand in solidarity with all those in Iraq and everywhere who demand justice and human dignity. We condemn the sinful and systemic abuses committed in our name, and pledge to work and right these wrongs.”

I don’t think anyone could say it better than that.

Today I start a new contract with an old client. It’s going to keep me busy for the next few weeks. There’s a good chance it may lead to more work.

While I’m thrilled to be doing something again, I am also going to miss the time I’ve spent here with Kelly and Hallie making this house our new home.

Catcha later.