A Bloy and his Blog

Today while visiting the eye doctor for a checkup, I got one of the proverbial signs of aging. I need bifocals.

It wasn’t exactly a big surprise to me. Over the past six months or so, I’ve been looking underneath my glasses to read small print. When the eye doctor first entered the exam room, she asked me if I had any problems or concerns. I told her that I wasn’t having any problems, but that she was probably going to tell me that I should get bifocals. She then asked, “Are you okay with that?”

read the rest of: Signs of aging

After reading a couple of other bloggers who are contemplating changing the domain names of their websites, I got to thinking… If I ever changed the name of this site, what would I change it to?

A few interesting domain names popped into my head (which I just may register at some point). I also got to thinking about website names in general. The web design blogosphere has some great names, my current favorite being Photo Matt. There are many others.

I hit upon a new name for this site and decided to make the change. The domain name will stay the same — bloy.net is just too simple to stop using. However, in case I ever decide to change it, I did register bloyandhisblog.com (which now redirects you back to this site).

I hope you like the new moniker.

For the past several weeks I’ve been using Mozilla Thuderbird for email, and liking it a lot. Prior to that, I had been a loyal user of Eudora. Would you believe I’ve been using that for at least 15 years now! In fact, for the past 5 years or so, I’ve been buying the full version to take advantage of the extra features (like spell check). When I opened up the program a few weeks ago, I got a notice that there was another new version available. Did I want to shell out $50 for the upgrade?

Lately, I’ve been hearing good things about Thuderbird (made by the same folks who created my favorite web browser (Mozilla Firefox) and I decided to give it a try. Like Firefox, Thunderbird is open source software and free to use.

read the rest of: Mozilla Thunderbird

I am now officially a member of Arboretum Cohousing. After investigating the project and attending a few meetings, I decided it would be worth my while to invest $500 into a possible change of living locations. And for me location is the key word.

The beauty of the surrounding landscape and recreational potential is huge. I would live one just or two blocks away from Lake Wingra, the University of Wisconsin Arboretum, the Henry Vilas Zoo, and the excellent network of recreational trails that go through Madison. That’s a lot of potential bicycling, hiking and kayaking, very close to home.

read the rest of: Moving in 2007?

Madison got socked in with snow today. About an hour into my work day, the “powers that be” decided to close the college because of the storm. I felt like a school kid who had the day off because of the snow.

read the rest of: Snow day!

This past October, The New Pornographers were scheduled to perform here in Madison. But an emergency appendectomy for band’s bassist postponed the show until last night. When they walked onto the stage at the Barrymore Theatre and began playing, I knew waiting those four months was worth it. The band started off the show sounding energetic and tight with the opening songs “The Jessica Numbers” and “Use It.”

read the rest of: New Pornographers worth the wait