• Shit, winter has arrived in the Great White North. 35F and 40 mph winds yesterday. It's been raining here for the last few days, but this morning we had snow. It was a weak snow. The ground is still too warm, but the snow clung to everything else.

• Other than that, lots of shit is the same. I did purchase a "new" LCD monitor for my home computer. Its a real nice used HP model that I scored off ebay for $88, $100 shipped. It's in great shape, without a scratch or noticeable dead pixel. I love ebay. Some times it can be hit or miss, but I've been pretty lucky with just about everything I've ever bought from there.

• Speaking of ebay, I am really tempted to buy a new hard drive for my 4th generation ipod that "shit the bed" a few months back. I replaced it with this great little Sandisk Sansa e260. I love everything about this player, except one thing. I can't use itunes with it and literally every other podcast receiver on Earth sucks donkey dick. I mean it's not even close! All I want is a receiver that will download my podcasts and sync them to the Sandisk. No big deal, one would think. Well, it is. There are a few that claim to sync, but they are buggy and crash constantly. The rest don't do the syncing themselves, but require you so setup all these Windows Media Player smart playlists. I don't want to do that shit! I just want to download my podcasts and have them appear on the player. An iPod and iTunes just does this. That's why I might switch. I can get a 20GB drive for my iPod for around $45-$55. Really, it's just gotten to the point where I've played with other podcast receivers for hours and I'm just sick of the whole situation. The $55 is worth it to me, just to eliminate the aggravation.
  

• Mowed the lawn


• Trimmed the bushes


• Spread wood chips


• Burned branches and leaves


• Touched up the exterior house trim


• Moved some plumbing pipes


• Installed new water filter


• Installed a new GFI outlet in bathroom, ran the wire 


• Replaced the felt around the drum in the clothes dryer


• Changed the kitty litter


• Washed the dishes


• Ran the garbage to the dump

• I bought myself a new/used iPod last week. I got a really good deal off ebay. I paid $100 for a used 4th generation, 40 GB iPod "clickwheel" model. The seller had a bunch of them. It came with a 90 day warranty and is in great shape, very minor scratches.

It's exactly what I wanted, it doesn't have a color screen or play videos. You can't find plain new iPods, with large hard drives, anymore. I have three laptops, I don't need something else that plays videos on the go. I think the video aspect makes more sense for people who ride the bus or something.

• All the details have yet to emerge, but I'm getting a big promotion at work. I'm being made Production Manager. This means I am in charge of everything we manufacture and everyone involved in manufacturing. Among my responsibilities are, and I quote from the job description I was given:
  
• Hiring and firing
• Employment rule enforcement
• Shift scheduling
• Job scheduling
• Performance reviews
• Communication conduit between management/employee

That's just the details with the personnel. I also am responsible for maintaining production process, automating sequences, production data collection, and a whole other page of details. I'm pretty excited and can't wait. They are still working on the details regarding the monetary raise I will be receiving.