Do you have a large "Favorites" list in Internet Explorer? Mine is huge. Here's a program (IEFC) that takes the list and checks for valid links. Over time, many links become invalid. The program will rename the link with an INV at the beginning or it will delete those links no longer going anywhere. I have been using it since last fall and it works very well for me (using Windows 2000). It even allows for maybe good or maybe not good.

It was surprisingly cool and breezy this morning. I am not eager for summer. It gets hot. I wish we had longer springs and falls. Anyway, right now this area is Easter-looking with purple lawns and yellow forsythia blooming. The purple plants are henbit and die out when it gets too hot. They look beautiful right now.

Thanks to my cousin, R. E., for sending this link to the best computer ads that appear in Sunday's paper. When you go to the site, select your state and it tells you about the best current sales --> SalesCircular.com.

I like Thai and I used to love Surins of Thailand, a place here in town. I had eaten lunch here several times. With a lunch entree, comes soup and a large bowl of rice on the side. It was great.

March has been designated by the craft industry as a time to focus on crafts, to introduce people to new crafts and to talk about the pleasures that crafts give us. (Go take a look at MedicMom's blog and see the beautiful quilts she's been making.) More about National Craft Month.

The theme this week is morning and that is my favorite time of day. Here's my entry at this week's PhotoFriday.com. The day before had been warm, but it cooled more than normal overnight, causing a fog above the creek in the early morning.

My Samsung V205 cell phone camera takes poor pictures (it came out in a time when folks were amazed that cell phones could even have cameras). Here's an example of one --> An Old Cell Phone Photo of Mine. The picture is passable in bright light, but very low res.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Are you Irish? If so, maybe we are related through one of these names: Alexander, Courtenay, Dungan, Forster, Gheen, Liston, McCarley, McKnight, Miller, Mortimer, Netterville, Steele, Thompson, Trimble, Tuttle, Wallace or Wogan. (Click on any name above to see a list and links to family information.)

I am eating Italian with friends today -- sort of ironic, I guess. When I visited Boston a few years ago, I was driven through the center of town. I saw parade routes painted on the street -- an Irish route for St. Patrick's Day and an Italian route for Columbus Day. Both routes followed a similar path but were marked separately.  I was told that both groups have a kind of rivalry going there and one tries to outdo the other.

Too Much Outsourcing

This needs to be slowed way down. I don't care if it "keeps prices low," it is hurting Americans to take jobs away. Not only that, but talking to an outsourced person is extremely annoying. I belong to America Online. When I have a tech question, I end up in a live chat with SOMEONE IN SRI LANKA who barely speaks English -- representing AOL ... hypocritical for a company named "America Online."

Even more irritating is a question concerning a local problem. This article explains that local folks with a welfare question end up talking to someone in INDIA about a problem in their own state. How insulting is that?!

Adding to it all -- an acquaintance of mine here in town lost her airline job. The company sent her to INDIA to train her replacement! And in my husband's tiny Idaho hometown of 500 people, the major employer, Simplot, decided to abandon their factory and move their operations to Canada, destroying his hometown.

Dead Battery

The iPod battery ran down this morning. Instead of music, I listened to nature. The birds were noisy. I could pick out cardinal, robin, goose, duck and crow sounds. The creek was full from recent rain so the "waterfall" was loud moving a large volume of water. Nearly every morning and walking near a main street, we always hear sirens - ambulance, police, fire engines, etc., not to mention the usual cars and trucks. In the distance, a loud bang or explosion can be heard - construction, maybe? Dogs were barking off in the distance, too. In this warmer weather, we have a kazillion gnats. I end up eating one or two and also they get in my ears, making a high-pitched whining buzz. Bleck!

Still, it was interesting to observe how noisy the outdoors can be. It is much quieter inside.

Radio Blog

Just read this on Webgrits. Add streaming music to your site. I love it --> Suburban Blight: radio.blog!.

My Cat is Looking at You

Dad sent a picture of a blinking baby, so I grabbed a recent photo of my cat and tried to do the same thing. It is a little rough and cats don't blink like that, but it was fun to make.