A Bloy and his Blog

I’ve got running water in my kitchen! This is not a bad thing (it only runs when I want it to). Four days ago I wasn’t so sure that would be the case.

A while back I decided to get rid of my 23-year-old kitchen counter. Of course you can’t have a new counter and keep the 23-year-old sink and faucet. The disposer was also in serious need of replacing. So, I purchased the new stuff, and signed up with a contractor to install the counter. In order to save some money (I hate to think what a plumber charges per hour), my brother and I ripped out the old stuff, and had planned on installing the faucet and garbage disposer ourselves. After all, Steve and I have both watched a lot of This Old House episodes, and the two of us replaced his garbage disposer last winter.

read the rest of: Adventures in kitchen remodeling

I do all of my bill-paying online. The one downside of accessing your online accounts are passwords. Passwords should be strong, and also unique for each account you have. I keep mine fairly strong and unique with a system — basically I use a series of letters and numbers that is different for each website. I don’t want to go into details (for obvious reasons), but as long as I know the sequence, it’s a pretty easy system to use.

This morning I was reading an article about identity theft, and a specific case involving a stolen laptop. As I was reading the article, it occurred to me: even though I have that password system, I keep a file with that information my computer. That file has links to the websites, login names, and passwords for ALL of my accounts (including bank and credit card accounts). If someone were to break in and steal my computer…

I just finished removing all password information from that file.

How secure are your passwords?

Yesterday I returned home from a camping trip to northern Wisconsin. My goal for this trip was to explore some of the bike trails in Vilas County that run through the Northern Highland - American Legion State Forest.

read the rest of: Biking the north woods

Right around this time of the year I often get a sense of emotional dread with the end of the summer. Dread probably isn’t the right word… melancholy might be more appropriate.

I think a number of factors contribute to that feeling. The darkness of the evening is arriving noticeably sooner every day. My summer vacations are over. Nights are starting to feel cooler. At work, we are gearing up our plans for the upcoming school year.

It isn’t so much that I don’t like the change of seasons. In a lot of ways, autumn can be my favorite time of the year. I don’t think it’s the fact that I’m getting closer to bitter cold days and nights of the winter. Although work is a little less hectic in the summer, I do enjoy the challenges the academic year brings.

Perhaps it’s the noticeable passage of time that bothers me. Winter is on it’s way, and the joys of warm weather will soon be a memory. The world is changing and there isn’t a thing I can do about it. I can only ponder how it makes me feel.