Update on Toby...

I came into work today and Carl was looking at the Save Toby website. It seems there's been some recent activity, and I was curious enough to take another look. A couple days ago the site was down for 48 hours due to a hacker, but the it's been moved to a more secure server now. Also, PayPal has stopped accepting donations for them, and the site owner has been fighting them on it. Though he says there are "tons of companies" willing to do business with him, it's been nearly 6 weeks since he announced it.

Anyway, check out the latest updates on the website, especially the hate mail. There's some funny stuff there!

I've just got to reiterate the fact that Google completely rocks. I'm not talking about the search engine - I mean the company in general. They continue to impress me with all their products. Picasa and Hello are an amazingly powerful combination of tools for editing, organizing and sharing pictures. Gmail continues to increase the size of my mailbox (last count was 2.118 Gb, and still growing). The Google Toolbar is an absolute MUST have for internet browsing. It blocks pop-ups, shows page ranks, autofills forms, and has a direct link to Google News. Speaking of Google News, it's now customizeable, so you can make the news page report whatever you'd like. Mine currently reports news about the world, Kuwait, Grand Junction, and computer games. Are you surprised?

Remember that TV show I was so obsessed with? Well, the obsession is still going strong, and I freely admit that I still watch at least one episode a week. Seriously. Well... it's still a few months until the movie comes out, but the fan sites are getting busier every day.

I just picked up an interesting book. The link is to Amazon, and there are some great user reviews there. Here's the description:

Book Description In this eclectic anthology of essays, former cast member Jewel Staite, "Kaylee," philosopher Lyle Zynda, sex therapist Joy Davidson, and noted science fiction and fantasy authors Mercedes Lackey, David Gerrold, and Lawrence Watt-Evans contribute to a clever and insightful analysis of the short-lived cult hit Firefly. From What went wrong with the pilot? to What's right about Reavers? and how the correspondence between the show's creator Joss Whedon and the network executives might have actually played out, the writers interrogate the show's complexity and speculate about what might have been if the show Firefly had not been cancelled. About the Author Jane Espenson is a veteran Mutant Enemy script writer who was responsible for the Firefly episode "Shindig." She has also written for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Deep Space Nine, Ellen, Gilmore Girls, and Star Trek. She lives in Los Angeles. Glenn Yeffeth is the editor of Seven Seasons of Buffy and Taking the Red Pill. He lives in Dallas, Texas.

I also found out they're publishing a series of "graphic novels" (which is just a fancy word for comic book) that will tell the story of the time between the last episode and the upcoming movie. Needless to say, I've pre-ordered my copies. I'll post the link if anyone is interested.

I'm finishing up my packing. It's amazing how much stuff I've accumulated here. I'm leaving a lot of things here too, much to the dismay of my roomates... except for the beer kits... they're glad I'm leaving those of course...

That's all I've got to report! In the home stretch now, and getting anxious to get home. I had a dream the other day that I woke up and was in my own bed, in my own house, with my wife and baby boy. It was a great feeling, and one I'm REALLY looking forward to the experience again. Of course, when I woke up and realized I was still in Kuwait, I was bummed out for the entire day.

Cindy asked about my plans for my "civilian life". She also hinted about ropes and handcuffs... maybe she knows something about Shelley that I don't... But I honestly don't have any plans at this point. Needless to say, Shelley is fairly anxious about that as well, and has been diligently sending me info on job openings... I've got a couple of ideas, but that's about it right now. However, it does look like the job market in GJ has improved a bit in my absense.

Love to all!