Thought I’d put in a little plug for Skype. I’ve been using it to make video calls home to Kathy and the kids; it works great as long as you have a decent internet connection. Making calls between computers with other Skype users is free, but you can also pay a fee (about $3 a month) for unlimited calls from your computer to regular telephones. I did that because the cell service here is not very good, and the cell phone won’t have service at all once I get overseas.

Smallpox is not something you’d hope for. Here’s my arm 10 days after getting the smallpox vaccination:

It may not be much to look at, but at least it’s painful and itchy.

Here’s a picture of the back side of one of the Humvees we’re training on. I think the Arabic writing says “Infidel on Board”.

Thanks to Justin, I was able to import the Haloscan comments into Wordpress. Thanks for the help!

You don’t need an upgraded account to use Haloscan with WordPress, but you do need an upgraded account if you want to export the Haloscan comments and import them into the WordPress commenting tool.

The problem with continuing to use Haloscan is that the old comments are tied to the post ID numbers that were used by Blogger. When I installed WordPress, it imported my old posts into a new database and blew away the Blogger ID numbers. So now I have a bunch of Haloscan comments that are not tied to the correct posts anymore. I’m sure there’s probably some way to fix this, but I have neither the knowledge nor the desire to figure it out.

Upgraded the site to use WordPress today, and am still playing with the look and feel. Haven’t migrated the comments from the old site yet, and am not sure if I’m going to because I think Haloscan will make me purchase the upgraded service before it will let me export the data.

As I was sitting in class last night desperately seeking something to do other than listen to the professor, it occurred to me that I had not made a blog entry in several months. This is not the first such stretch of inactivity; I think I may like the idea of blogging more than I actually like blogging. Having said that, I’m going to try (again) to make a conscious effort to use this more often. Whether it will be interesting or useful, however, I can make no promises.

I thought it would be fun to steal an idea from Mick that he stole from Len’s place–here are the movies that I have not seen out of the Top 100 Grossing Movies:

34. Twister
41. Rush Hour 2
53. Mummy Returns, The
67. Perfect Storm, The
70. Jurassic Park III
80. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
87. Tarzan (1999)
98. Bug’s Life, A
99. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

There is a second list that lists the Top 100 Grossing Movies after adjusting for inflation. I like this list better; not only because it has better movies, but because there I have only seen 79% of them, as opposed to 91% of the first list, making me 12% less losery. Here’s the ones I haven’t seen from the second list:

8. Doctor Zhivago
13. Ben-Hur
33. Love Story
38. Cleopatra
40. Airport
41. American Graffiti
42. The Robe
43. Around the World in 80 Days
46. The Bells of St. Mary’s
48. The Towering Inferno
51. The Greatest Show on Earth
52. My Fair Lady
53. Let’s Make Love
62. West Side Story
65. Twister
67. The Best Years of Our Lives
69. The Poseidon Adventure
72. Its’ a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
81. Duel in the Sun
83. House of Wax
96. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

I guess the answer to that question was “no”. However, I have a feeling that I might actually start using this blog soon, with the birth of Anna only two days away. I guess I should start freaking out soon, but for now I’m just really, really excited. Pictures, thoughts, and sickeningly sweet baby stories are just around the corner.

Wow, I’m a blogger. Do I automatically become deep and philosophical, or do I have to buy the upgrade?