Evening, everyone.
Not much time for the computer lately. I've been trying to get my paramedic kit restocked (since I'm the medical help for about 25 missionaries, the poor slobs) and carrying on a long distance war with the guy who has been running the network and computer systems for the mission resource center. He has been terminated, but still lives in town, and I need his help to figure out how he has the network set up. Claims to have been a big-time system administrator but can't provide me with a network architecture diagram. He's also a Linux wonk who hates Windows. He seems to have forgotten that part of the reason for the computers is to teach the locals Microsoft Office so they can get jobs. I really don't care what kind of system we have, but Linux won't run Office. I can see this isn't going to be a fun trip.
Chris, it sounds like you are going about things is the right way. Your son still has a mother, so she needs to be treated with respect, even when you don't feel like it. You also need to protect yourself, so moving assets is a good idea. I'm praying that, after a few weeks with dad, she might find out you're not so bad after all. I'm happy to hear your son came home though. The unemployment issue is a big one, since Congress is blocking any further extension of unemployment benefits past the current period. I hope the job at the big box store works out.
Rex, that "anti virus" thing has been the scourge of the internet for the last few months. The authors keep updating the program to stop real anti virus programs from running, including AVG, Norton, McAffee, and Spybot. The worst thing is the people who click to buy the program. Not only does it charge your credit card $49.95, your credit card number is then sold to other crooks, and the charges run up fast until the credit card company's fraud department picks it up. The Justice Department has been after these guys since 2008, but most of them are located eastern Europe, so there's not much they can do except got through Interpol and hope for cooperation from ISP's in the various countries they operate from. Fat chance. Most of this comes from legitimate web sites that hare hacked, with a redirect to the fake pop-up when you reach a certain page. One of the operations has taken in more than $1 million from this fraud, according the DOJ. They are a pretty smart bunch of programmers, and there's a lot of money in internet crime. BTW, I haven't forgotten Friday, and still plan to be there at 1000.
Steve, I was reading an article on one of the weather sites I frequent that England has had the driest first half of the year since 1949. I guess that accounts for all your woods fires. Sounds like you landed a pretty cool part-time job.
Corey, glad to hear your wife is out of the hospital. If she really has a lot of adhesions, they will need to operate to relieve the pain, and there's very little chance of saving her fertility.

In vitro is both tricky and expensive. Adoption ain't cheap either, but at least you may be giving a child a better home than they would have otherwise.
Matt, Bob and Rex are the two go-to guys for advice about guns. In my younger days, I hunted deer with either a Remington 870 with 3" slug ammo or the trusty 30-06. Most of my later life was finding the best guns for two legged animals, who shoot back when you hunt them

I did go bear hunting with my uncle when I was 15 up in what was then the Yukon Territory of Canada. It was about the most miserable week of my life - I had the trots the whole time and the mosquitoes and giant biting flies were enough to drive you batty. It's a long story, but I was the only one to shoot a bear, and I did it with an M-1 carbine. Not the ideal bear hunting weapon, but 16 rounds of .30 caliber M-1 rounds at a distance of maybe 20 yards did the job. My uncle was mad because I ruined the pelt with so many bullet holes. I was just glad the danged thing didn't kill me.
Phillip, I'm glad to see and hear from you again. What's new with you and what have you been up to?
Man, it has been hotter than blue blazes here. Today was the first day in the last eight we didn't hit 100 - just 96, almost sweater weather.

After a week of rain being all around us, we did finally get a good soaking today, with 2.13 inches in a little less than an hour. That was a real toad choker. Might get some more tomorrow if we're lucky. Hurricane Alex is no more, going ashore in a very sparsely populated area of Mexico. Good thing the low pressure trough over us was strong enough to turn it to the west. If Alex had gone to the northeast and spent more time over the Gulf, it would have been a major hurricane, something we really don't need right now. I leave for Honduras a week from today. There's another suspicious looking area of disturbed weather in the Caribbean that I hope doesn't have my name on it. The area of Honduras I'll be in is hard to get to when the weather is good. If we get hit by a hurricane, or even a strong tropical storm, my 10 day vacation may be a little longer than I anticipated.
