jimtrottier.com Family NewsJim and Sandy Trottier Family NewsClose Computer Call- (Found June 24, 2008 ) I nearly fried a computer this weekend. My homemade Athlon XP 1800 box overheated when the case fan died. This is a desktop case sitting under my main monitor. I noticed the problem when I reached for something sitting on the case. It was extremely hot to the touch, so I knew something was seriously wrong. I immediately powered down and opened it up.It was amazing to feel just how hot things were. I touched various components--the hard drive, the inside metal frame of the case, the CD-ROM.http://www.jimtrottier.com/Weblog/archives/00000122.htm Live Commercial- (Found June 24, 2008 ) I think I saw a commercial last night. No, not on TV, on Highway 50. As I was driving home from Union Grove on the highway I came up behind one of those Mitsubishi SUVs. It was black in color (just like in the commercial) and believe it or not the flip-down tv screen was down and they were actually watching SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!! So eerily like the commercial that it kinda freaked me out. I laughed most of the way home. If you've seen the commercial you know the one I'm talknig about.http://www.jimtrottier.com/Weblog/archives/00000123.htm Spooky Things- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Kevin's all revved up for Halloween. He's got his Incredible Hulk costume ready, complete with talking Hulk Hands, and he can't wait to get out there and show it off. Speaking of Halloween, you should check out our favorite collection of Halloween decorations all in one haunted yard!That's the kid that greets you at the door. Make any sudden noise and he dances and says "trick or treat!" or several other things. There are several other sound-activated devices throughout the yard, so it's...http://www.jimtrottier.com/Weblog/archives/00000124.htm Origin of Halloween- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Does anyone know why Kenosha and a couple other surrounding towns are having trick-or-treat on October 27th The kids have Thursday and Friday off school next week anyway, so even if they were trying to maintain the "safety" hours of 1-4 pm it would have been fine to keep it on the 31st. Every other community seems to always have trick-or-treat on Halloween though. Kenosha's just gotta be different I guess.Anyway, with tomorrow being the "big day" for most kids in this area, I thought it...http://www.jimtrottier.com/Weblog/archives/00000125.htm Trick-or-Treating- (Found June 24, 2008 ) We had a great time trick-or-treating today. We're all very exhausted. Kevin's having a hard time keeping his eyes open, so he'll be fast asleep within the next half hour I'm guessing. I took a few photos, and this time I'll be putting the best of them into my new Moblog first, before creating an entire photo album, which I'll do in the near future.I decided to start a weblog after seeing Dee's Moblog on her website and learning more about it. It just makes it so easy to add photos to the...http://www.jimtrottier.com/Weblog/archives/00000126.htm Still Motion- (Found June 24, 2008 ) A friend of mine sent me a very disturbing illusion today. I thought I'd share it with you. It's amazing how the mind works and what it can do when challenged. I couldn't believe it myself, so I loaded the image into Animation Shop and yes, it is just one UNANIMATED frame! It's a large image, but even just looking at a portion of it at a time works fine. Can this mess up your eyespopup rotsnake1.gif rotsnake1 1024x768Click here to view the illusion. If you have a popup blocker you may have.http://www.jimtrottier.com/Weblog/archives/00000127.htm Green MeadowsHalloween- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Yesterday I helped chaperone Kevin's Kindergarten class for a field trip to Green Meadows Farm. We had a great time, got to pet, hold and visit lots of animals, ride the ponies, took a hay ride, had lunch, and even got to pick pumpkins out of the pumpkin patch to bring home. I've posted a few highlight photos in my moblog and also posted the entire collection of images in our photo albums, along with all of our Halloween photos from this year. Here they are:Green Meadows Field...http://www.jimtrottier.com/Weblog/archives/00000128.htm Pumpkin Totem- (Found June 24, 2008 ) We finished carving our third and final pumpkin for this Halloween today. It turned out we had 3 different sizes--small medium and large, so after thinking about it I came up with the idea of stacking them vertically! We lit all three of them with candles and then stacked them for a picture, as you'll see below. I couldn't resist doctoring it up a bit, so I added a few foreground and background touches. (including Witch Rosemary, in case she's too small to recognize this time)I like to think.http://www.jimtrottier.com/Weblog/archives/00000129.htm Welcome To November- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Well I guess it's time to post a new entry... My blog calendar still says October because that's when I last posted. Of course, now it says November because of THIS posting... Anyway, pretty stormy weather the last 3 or 4 days around here. In fact, it's thundering and lightning quite a bit out there right now--I should actually have these computers shut down "just in case." Ah, where's the fun in thatIt was very surprisingly warm today though. It rained early in the morning then cleared up...http://www.jimtrottier.com/Weblog/archives/00000130.htm Nemoverdose- (Found June 24, 2008 ) It's Thursday. We got Nemo on Wednesday, and Kevin's watched it 6 times already. He's obsessed, as usual with all Pixar movies. When he watches it he has to gather as many Nemo stuffed animals as he can find to watch it with him, then he's glued to the TV for 1 hr and 40 minutes.I watched the behind the scenes stuff and the movie with the commentary track on. Only once though, not 6 times. Very interesting stuff though, fascinating to see how they make these movies and how long it takes. ..http://www.jimtrottier.com/Weblog/archives/00000131.htm |