2/24/2006 07:46:00 AM|W|P|Kevin|W|P|Talk about a bad day! Just a reminder to never carry a lighter in your pocket! Man's shirt erupts in flames after he is shot with Taser: South Florida Sun-Sentinel|W|P|114078519602369215|W|P|Man's shirt erupts in flames after he is shot with Taser: South Florida Sun-Sentinel|W|P|klrace@gmail.com2/23/2006 10:07:00 PM|W|P|Kevin|W|P|On Tuesday afternoon, my coworkers and I received a message that they may be some restructuring within our division. Rumors instantly started circulating that our office was being closed and some of us would be transferred to a new office in El Paso, Texas, while other would be transferred to a new office in downtown Cincinnati that is currently occupied my associates with our Employer Services unit. I have also heard that my group in particular could move to Portland (which is where my group is actually headquartered, even though we all work in Florence) or Chicago, my division headquarters. We are having a meeting at 11:00 tomorrow, so as soon as I hear something, I will update my blog so everyone knows. In other work news, I am currently working on a project to create a timetracking program for my coworkers and I. I have to create some sort of productivity tool as part of my bonus qualification, so this is it. I'm writing it in ASP .NET and VB .NET, so it will probably take a while since I no nothing about ASP. I still feel very fortunate that I am able to learn these new tools in my new job. They really encourage intellectual growth. Oh, I almost forgot. I had my Operations Management final tonight. It wasn't too bad. It consisted of 30 multiple choice questions and 4 long problems. I feel like I got a low A on the exam, which would give me an A for the class. My grade is hovering around an A- now, so if I get a B on the exam, I'm sure I'll have a B for the course. Still no A's...all B's in MBA School for me! Tomorrow is Friday, so with the meeting and my project taking up most of my time, I think I'll just chill out at work and listen to some jazz on the iPod. I am acquainting myself with Jazz since I have never really listened to it, but from what I have heard so far, I really enjoy it. I downloaded a free iMix from iTunes that contains some classic stuff and a coworker had the boxed set from Ken Burn's documentary Jazz, so I ripped those and threw those on the iPod as well. By the way, I really love my new iPod. Loretta bought me a 30gig iPod 5G to help me get through school. I am very thankful for it and love listening to it in the car (I got a DLO TransPod from Amazon with some gift certificates), at work and while waiting for my classes at school. It's great and I highly recommend it. Have a great Friday! Kevin|W|P|114075136041940074|W|P|Work, School and Jazz|W|P|klrace@gmail.com2/22/2006 08:19:00 AM|W|P|Kevin|W|P|If you use Gmail and Firefox, which you should be doing, then you need this extension for Firefox. It allows you to use your 2GB+ space on Gmail as storage for files. Too cool! Just click the link below for more information. Gmail Space - Reviews and free downloads at Download.com|W|P|114061439186303052|W|P|Coolest Firefox Extension|W|P|klrace@gmail.com2/21/2006 08:19:00 PM|W|P|Kevin|W|P|Well, only 2 days until my MGMT final. I just finished my test help sheet (one page, front and back, anything we want), and am waiting for Loretta to finish up purchasing some songs on iTunes so we can watch the Olympics. I don't think my exam will be too tough. I have a good handle on all of the material an I should do well...but you never know! Season 2 of NKYPoker starts up tomorrow. Be sure to check out the newly redesigned http://www.nkypoker.org for the latest news and updates. Unfortunately, I'll only be able to play one tourney (we usually have 2 each night) since I have my exam on Thursday. Also, if you look down on the left side of this page, you will see a link to download Firefox. I strongly recommend this due to the inadequacy of Internet Explorer and the many security flaws that exist for IE. In other news, Loretta and I will be babysitting my oldest brother's kids, Morgan and Casey, this Saturday evening. It should be fun as both kids seem to enjoy being around us. Plus, we'll be at Kenny and Sally's house, so they will feel more comfortable. Also, even though I am a registered Republican (leaning more towards the Libertarians, though), I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the Republican Party. It seems that a couple Righties are encouraging bills that would deter local munies from setting up wireless networks for the public. You can read the whole thing here. Goddamn frustating!|W|P|114057205812548515|W|P|MGMT Final and NKYPoker|W|P|klrace@gmail.com2/19/2006 06:27:00 PM|W|P|Kevin|W|P|I'm begginning to get a little stressed out about school. I have my Operations Management final this week, and although I have studied quite a bit so far, I still feel insecure about the exam. This is probably due to the fact that we haven't had an exam in this course yet, just two small projects (it is a 2 credit hour, 7 week course). I guess we'll see on Thursday! We do, however, get to bring in a "cheat-sheet" with anything we want on it. I'll be working on that on Tuesday evening. Finance is going ok...I have an A in there so far and just turned in another assignment yesterday that should be an A. One good thing from my Finance courses is that I am certain I do NOT want to go into Finance...too boring for me! IT all the way! Season 2 of the NKYPoker League starts up this week with 2 tourneys at Seth's house on Wednesday. (Yes, I know it's the day before my MGMT final, but I actually get quite a bit of studying done while playing at his house). This should be a fun season because I feel I learned quite a bit from last season and should play much better. Well...time to watch some of the Olympics!|W|P|114039201098897173|W|P|School Stress|W|P|klrace@gmail.com2/18/2006 09:06:00 AM|W|P|Kevin|W|P|This is annoying...I am currently taking a study break to try and get tickets for the Reds Opening Day on reds.com, but, just like the last 5 years, it's not allowing me to purchase them. The purchase page just sits there and tells me to be patient (like that would ever happen).|W|P|114027166604697712|W|P|Reds Tickets|W|P|klrace@gmail.com2/16/2006 09:03:00 AM|W|P|Kevin|W|P|Loretta has started a new blog, so make sure you check it out here.. Loretta's Blog. Make sure you leave her some comments so she knows you were there.|W|P|114009871611414155|W|P|Loretta's Blog|W|P|klrace@gmail.com2/16/2006 08:26:00 AM|W|P|Kevin|W|P|The Olympics are currently underway in Torino, Italy and it has been an exciting games so far. I'm a big fan of the Winter Olympics, which is odd because I live in a warm weather climate and there are not too many opportunites near here to participate in winter sports. It's tough to go skiing when A) You don't live near a mountain..and B) You only get 5 inches of snow throughout the entire winter! Although my wife is a much bigger fan of the summer olympics, we have been tuned in quite a bit to the television coverage on NBC. We have Tivo set to record the evening broadcast from 8:00 to 11:30 ET. Although I usually am aware of the results prior to watching the tape-delayed event on NBC (I've set www.nbcolympics.com as a Favorite in IE), I still really enjoy the events, especially the snow boarding events. It's great to finally have a Winter sport that the US dominates. Unfortunately, to get to some of my favorite events (skiing, speed skating, etc.), I have to FFW through figure skating (which, btw, would be a great torture device for males). I have decided, though, that this Weir guy for the US is a 100% flamer....and he kind of freaks my wife out with his mannerisms. Weir is a weird guy. I could see him becoming "The Grizzly Man Part Deux". Anyway, I better get back to work acting like I'm actually working.|W|P|114009842692136364|W|P|The Winter Olympics|W|P|klrace@gmail.com2/12/2006 05:02:00 PM|W|P|Kevin|W|P|Click the link below to see some pics from our first geocaching adventure...our new hobby! You can find more information about geocaching at www.geocaching.com. Click here for the pictures!|W|P|113978184979807927|W|P|Geocaching|W|P|klrace@gmail.com