Ye olde blog

My mom forwarded me all these old photos of Laramie as part of...

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 22:34:15 -0500

I worked at the one on Third Street.

MOST sanitary dairy. MOST.

My mom forwarded me all these old photos of Laramie as part of some viral forward, so I thought I’d post them. Kind of cool to see the old town through the years.

The final National Coin Week clue video. This is the one I star...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:17:53 -0500

The final National Coin Week clue video. This is the one I star in.

National Coin Week video No. 5

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:39:23 -0500

National Coin Week video No. 5

Here’s National Coin Week video #4.

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:24:42 -0500

Here’s National Coin Week video #4.

Here’s video No. 3 that I made as part of National Coin...

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:40:33 -0500

Here’s video No. 3 that I made as part of National Coin Week.

Here’s video No. 2 that I made for National Coin Week.

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:00:03 -0500

Here’s video No. 2 that I made for National Coin Week.

National Coin Week videos: A project I had a lot of fun with

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:34:15 -0600

The week of April 15-21 is National Coin Week. And since I work for the largest organization of coin collectors in the world, this is a pretty big deal in my professional life.

My primary contribution to this endeavor has been to write, shoot and edit a series of videos that are rolling out, starting today, for a treasure hunt. Basically, we throw out six video clues/trivia questions about coinage, and then give our members a chance to see if they can collect/answer the clues/questions. Collectors who can get the answers to all six clues win a nice numismatic prize.

For this year’s effort, we decided to pattern our videos after the “This is SportsCenter” commercials. All of the people in the videos are ANA staff members (yours truly will star in the last one). The next one comes out on March 19. And now, here’s video clue No. 1.

So, what do y’all think? Funny? Lame? Hit the comments, please.

Happy 4th birthday Audrey! Look at how big you’ve gotten!

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 09:52:58 -0600

Happy 4th birthday Audrey! Look at how big you’ve gotten!

Question for the American Life League: What color is the sky in...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:00:05 -0600

Question for the American Life League: What color is the sky in your world? Seriously, this is the most inaccurate, offensive portrayal of Planned Parenthood I’ve ever seen.

Want to know what this video says about the American Life League? That the people involved are incredibly homophobic, have a real hang-up about sex and would rather spread BLATANT LIES to push their anti-sex agenda on the rest of the world.

I feel sorry for anybody who buys into this garbage.

Here’s a video I made for the Money Museum to promote our...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:02:55 -0600

Here’s a video I made for the Money Museum to promote our Mini-Mint.

Audrey and Smith dance the animal dance

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 04:23:09 -0600

Audrey and Smith dance the animal dance

My wife is so awesome. Yes, that’s a Darth Vader...

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:15:48 -0600

My wife is so awesome. Yes, that’s a Darth Vader snowflake.

Smith at play October 2011

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:20:57 -0500

Smith at play October 2011

Why CenturyLink, DirecTV and Comcast all suck

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:00:06 -0500

For the money I spend each month on television and Internet access, I’ve come to expect far too much than your average telecom is willing to provide. And by too much, I mean basic competency.

I recently moved into a new apartment, so like a good consumer I checked out the available options in my community of Colorado Springs. I had two choices – I could use CenturyLink (formerly Qwest) for Internet and bundle with DirecTV, or I could go with Comcast for cable and Internet.

CenturyLink/DirecTV was about $25 per month cheaper than Comcast for the services I wanted, so I signed up. I had hoped that my previous experiences with CenturyLink and Qwest would not come back to bite me.

They did.

I called on a Tuesday and requested that services be hooked up on Friday. I was told someone would be there between noon and 4 p.m. Nobody showed.

So I called CenturyLink. Low and behold, I was scheduled for Internet on THE FOLLOWING THURSDAY. And my DirecTV order had never even been placed, despite the fact that they still charged me the installation fee.

I had used CenturyLink for a short time while living in Columbia, Mo., and had my fair share of problems with them then, too. Namely, when we moved, they didn’t cancel service despite the fact that I took all my cable TV equipment directly to their office and signed a cancellation form. After numerous phone calls, I was finally able to resolve that bill with no money out of pocket that I didn’t owe, but it did cost me a ton in time.

So, when this latest bit of incompetency reared its ugly head, I said no. I canceled right then and there. Then I sat on the phone for an hour while two customer service reps – one from CenturyLink, one from DirecTV – argued back and forth about who had to cancel my order. Clearly the left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing.

So, after wasting that hour of my life, I called Comcast to set up services. After another two hours of talking to a pair of customer service reps who apparently couldn’t handle the computer system very well, I had my order set for the following Monday.

Monday arrives, and the technician arrives on time to hook everything up. Except he didn’t bring the DVR I ordered. I called in to complain, and the phone rep told me to head down to the office and they’d be able to hook me up with one. So I drive the 15 minutes to the Comcast office, stand in line for 30 minutes, and then get told they don’t have the DVR I had been promised. But they could overnight it.

The next day, I get an email telling me my DVR will arrive in 3-5 business days, begging the question: WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO OVERNIGHT!?!?!?!?

For the $100 or so I’m paying every month for Comcast, I expect to at least be able to have my order put in correctly. If I’m going to deal with this kind of incompetency, I may as well go back to CenturyLink/DirecTV and save myself the money.

Or, here’s a novel idea – we could actually demand more for our money. Something needs to be done about these lousy telecoms that demand big bucks and deliver piss-poor service. We need more options for providers, so that our money can be spent on companies that actually care about their customers enough to give them their money’s worth.

So, if there is such a thing as a customer-friendly telecom out there (and it ain’t you, Mediacom – don’t think I’ve forgotten how lousy you are), please come to Colorado Springs. This market is prime for a good alternative.

I went to the World’s Fair of Money for my first week of...

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:05:57 -0500

I went to the World’s Fair of Money for my first week of work with the American Numismatic Association and had the good fortune of meeting WWE legend Hillbilly Jim. Here’s my quick little video interview with him.

The e-Trade baby didn’t fare so well this week …

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 00:45:07 -0500

The e-Trade baby didn’t fare so well this week …

Goodbye Kotie: The story of how my beloved dog had to be euthanized

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 22:54:33 -0500

The irony ran deep the other night as I dropped off my dog at the Laramie Animal Shelter, where he would spend his final hours before being put to sleep.

I adopted Kotie from the same shelter in 2000, while still a grad student at the University of Wyoming. Kotie was about 18 months old at the time. I instantly knew he was the dog for me. I can’t even really explain it — I was looking for a companion, a sidekick, and he was looking for a good home where he could be the center of attention. And he was.

By chance, I met Kotie’s previous owner a few weeks after I adopted him. The reason they gave up what he termed “a great dog” was because they were expecting their first baby. Kotie, to that point, had been the baby of the family. Now that they were about to have a child, Kotie started to pull some jealousy business — mainly, growling at his pregnant wife when she tried to take a bone from him. That was enough to convince them that Kotie wasn’t so great around babies.

But, with all due respect (because I probably would have done the same thing), he was wrong. Kotie was fantastic around my two babies. When my wife was pregnant, he followed her around constantly, as if to make sure that little Audrey was safe and sound. Later, when Audrey started crawling around and moving around the house in her walker, Kotie was incredibly patient with her. She would slam into him with her walker, and he’d barely flinch — he just moved out of the way.

It was incredibly surprising to get the call from Jenny that Kotie, the sweet, beloved dog I’d always known, had suddenly done something so terrible. He attacked my father. Not bit — attacked. Dad had called him to come inside, which Kotie had ignored. Dad gently reached down to grab Kotie’s collar, which he had probably done a million times before, when Kotie suddenly lost it.

He sinked his teeth into Dad’s forearm, drawing blood and nearly damaging a tendon. Dad managed to pull him off, but not before Kotie had also viciously attacked his other hand. As it turned out, Dad had to take about a week off work (he’s OK now — stitches are out and everything).

The doctor who sewed Dad up told me that she thinks old Chows like Kotie get some type of dementia (I haven’t found any actual stats on this — just anecdotal evidence) that makes them prone to sudden attacks late in life. I tend to believe it, because I can’t see my companion of over 10 years doing this for any other reason. Dad, like he always has been, was a rock. “At least it was me and not your kids,” he said. To a degree, I agree with him. But I still felt awful for him.

This all happened about two weeks ago, and not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought about him. I’m still haunted by my last moments with him, when I had to lead him into an isolation room and put him into the kennel where he’d spend his final moments before being put down. The look in his eyes told me he knew he’d messed up bad, but I don’t think he understood how bad it was. I don’t think he knew he was about to die.

I prefer, of course, to remember Kotie like this, snuggled up with our other two dogs:

Goodbye, old friend. I miss you. No other dog will ever be able to take your place.

This is why @TheRock is awesome.

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 01:34:40 -0500

This is why @TheRock is awesome.

For sale: HP Deskjet 3050 printer, still in the box

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:32:50 -0500

Who wants to buy a brand-new printer for cheap?

I just bought a new laptop last week, and it came with an HP Deskjet 3050 printer. I’d like to sell it before I leave Columbia.

It currently sells on Amazon.com for $59.95. NewEgg has it listed for $79.95, but it’s out of stock. On HP’s site, it’s $79.95 with a $20 rebate.

My price: $49.95 or best offer.

I leave Columbia in three weeks. I’d like to not take it with me.

Here’s a picture of it still in the box:

Interested? Hit me up.

Columbia Tribune and Boone Hospital Center — transparency please

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:53:08 -0500

Let me start off by saying that I love, love, love the fine folks over at the Columbia Tribune. I’ve had the good pleasure of working with many of the folks over there in various capacities during my tenure with the Missourian and the J School, and I find the staff there to be largely made up of top-flight journalists.

But after checking out today’s website and front page of print, I have to ask — how cozy of a relationship does the Tribune have with Boone Hospital Center?

Here’s exhibit A, a screen shot of ColumbiaTribune.com taken at 1:30 p.m. (it’s been up most of the day, I believe):

That’s what came up for me the first time I brought the page up. The second time, I got this (a little less invasive on the advertising):

I’ve had some browser wonkiness today. I’m betting the intent was for the second shot to be the first thing seen.

Now, let’s take a look at the print edition (image courtesy of the Newseum):

That’s some serious grip-n-grin action there.

If I just saw the print edition, I might chalk it up to a slow news day. The Trib has a talented stable of photographers who know their city well and generally come through with compelling images. A photo like this, I believe at least, is out of character for the front page of the Trib. But again, we all have slow news days.

The story, which I haven’t found yet online but was able to read on the jpg, is a rehash of the ribbon-cutting — a lot of self-congratulations from the folks who made the new patient tower happen. No outside voices. No attempt at analysis. It’s a puff piece.

If I just saw the website, I might chalk it up to “that’s one hell of an ad campaign — a little invasive, but acceptable.” It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen on the Trib’s website before, but in fairness, new patient towers are a big deal, so why not have that extra special presentation for just such an occasion?

But when I look at both, I have to raise the question — where does the advertising stop and the editorial begin?

I’m hoping the Tribune has plans to answer that question in the coming days.