Someone recently asked about the patent that I was issued. I figured I would just send them the link google patents, when I noticed a reference to a second patent with my name in it. What? If I had filed a second patent surely I would remember. Ha, I wasn’t listed as a patentee, but rather an entry in my blog from 2004 was used as a reference for some jimmied up laptop art holder thing-a-ma-bob. Too funny.

I was traveling away from home when the attacks took place in Mumbai. It took a minute for me to realize that I had been very close to one of the sites. Here is a picture of the Taj Hotel I took from a Ferry by India Gate.

Small world.

Search Commands, originally uploaded by timbu.

I’ve recently switched to the newest version of office. I don’t hate it other than the fact that once again everything seems slower. One thing that I can’t stand is the fact that there are a few commands I can’t find with the new sorry excuse for a toolbar. Hope this thing from office labs helps. I’ll let you know.

Decor Craft Inc., originally uploaded by timbu.

If I bought this keen cup I would probably break it by throwing it in the waste basket accidentally. It’s still cool.

Last Sunday I spent a chunk of my day in the oddest places. First I went to a gun show. In this case it was show for collectors of older guns. I was wanting to get a little more information on the guns my grandfather had and figure out how to best care for them. I was pretty amazed at the things I saw and did. For instance I have never walked around at the Minnesota State Fair grounds with a couple of rifles. It’s an odd experience. The oddest thing though was how friendly the people were at the gun show. It’s one of the few times in Minnesota where a lot of people have walked up to me to strike up a conversation.

After I left the gun show, I drove home and realized I was passing a store that sells comic books in addition to d&d supplies and other odds and ends. I decided I would stop in to get a few comic books for Matthew. I don’t frequent stores like this so I was totally unprepared for either the patrons or the diversity of worlds that were presented to me.

I wondered about the overlap between the people who attend gun shows and also attend comic book conventions. The people who might be packing heat, but the “heat” is highly collectible and should not fired.

I also thought a lot about writing a short story. The idea is this, a woman thinks she is gong to a speed dating event only she accidentally shows up at the gaming table. It’s called “Roll of the 20 sided dice”. After thinking about it more, I think I was actually writing a bad sitcom in my head.

The video is the security video of a man stuck in an elevator for 42 hours. Be sure and read the fascinating New Yorker article on this man’s plight as well as a lot of interesting elevator information.

I wonder what a security cam of me would look like. It would consist of lots of trips to the coffee pot and reading email.

Here is a summary of what I learned from my latest sales on Ebay. All of these items below are obvious to most people I think.

1. Make sure you have those neat little USPS flat rate boxes.
2. Make sure things fit in those neat little USPS flat rate boxes.
3. I need a postal scale.
4. The APC machine at the post office is slow, although not as slow as waiting in the line behind the group of people who need a passport.
5. Use reserve pricing so you don’t sell things for one penny. If you ignore this rule double check the price of shipping. Doh!

And last but not least … “People will buy almost anything.”