http://timandashley.com stuff we find interesting Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:00:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en You've heard of Blue Screens of Death, right? Some people call them BSoDs. They tend to be scary, frustrating, and confusing all at the same time. You've been working on a paper or project (or maybe just playing a game) for hours, and suddenly your computer freezes and up comes this ... http://timandashley.com/?p=512 Wow. I’m really in trouble. Turns out AT&T’s basic customer service people are better than the CEO. Why? At least they’re friendly. The CEO won’t help you, and he’ll threaten you with legal action. That’s right. The story is all over the internet. (How did I miss it?) It happened about the time ... http://shamelessacademic.com/att-ceo-fail/ After my last post about AT&T, I gave up on getting help in the store, and went back to calling.(Anyone who knows me knows this was a huge step, because I hate calling strangers. Hate it. Seriously, AT&T should have to pay me money for pain and suffering.) I called them ... http://shamelessacademic.com/update-att-fiasco-is-just-getting-worse/ In May 2009, Tim and I switched to AT&T. He got a fancy new iphone that he could use on our mission trip to Europe, and I got a shiny new red phone. It’s a Samsung a777, I think. Or maybe it’s a737. Anyway, it’s red. I wanted an orange one, ... http://shamelessacademic.com/att-fiasco-nice-people-who-cant-solve-my-problem/ I like chocolate, and I eat peanut butter with a spoon. But together? My favorite. I can’t imagine life without chocolate and peanut butter. Actually, I can. I spent two summers in Europe, devoid of chocolate with peanut butter. There was plenty of chocolate, yes. But no Reese’s cups, or any ... http://shamelessacademic.com/the-golden-mean-applied-to-reeses/ My sister Erika just got married and moved to Illinois. This is particularly notable because Erika and I grew up in Alabama. Lower Alabama, also known as L.A. We eat boiled peanuts in L.A. I think she is experiencing a little bit of culture shock. There aren’t any boiled peanuts in northern ... http://shamelessacademic.com/you-might-be-a-redneck-even-if-you-live-in-illinois/ Ever heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect? I just read about it today, and I can’t decide whether I’m comforted (because I think I’m ignorant) or disturbed (about all of the things that I don’t know that I don’t know). You can read about it, here. http://shamelessacademic.com/in-which-my-feelings-of-stupidity-become-almost-comforting/ I have a thing for old stairs. Don’t ask me why. These are old stairs. Please ignore the graffiti. These particular stairs were kind of annoying, though. They were too shallow, and too wide. I think they were made that way so that horses could walk up them. Really. Some people walked down the ... http://shamelessacademic.com/old-stairs-old-roads-and-laundry/ It’s too tempting. This is one of those times when I almost regret taking pictures. I think the pictures are supposed to bring back happy memories. They do bring happy memories, but they also bring discontent thoughts. Really, who wouldn’t want to live in a walled city with a nifty tile roof, ... http://shamelessacademic.com/landscapes-2-the-other-side/ When I was kid, we would go on long road trips to visit my grandparents. As we drove through different parts of the country, sometimes I would wonder, “what would it be like to live here?” I always worried about those people who lived in the mountains, on curvy roads, surrounded ... http://shamelessacademic.com/landscapes-theyre-different-in-different-places/ I like old places. I’m going through some mission team photos tonight, and I came to this photo. This is a street sign from Perugia. Well, it’s sort of a street sign. The “street” was more like a passageway, and it was inside the citadel. Anyway, I think the sign is saying ... http://shamelessacademic.com/old-places/ I've been experimenting with various productivity systems over the past 6-12 months. Recently Ashley found a book called The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play, which was a very worthwhile read, maybe even rising to the level of "inspiring." Dealing with e-mail: ZEB Like many people ... http://timandashley.com/?p=481 My friend slc makes books, like the one in the picture. I always love her books, but I’m especially intrigued by her newest creation: a neckheld book. That’s right. A book, held by your neck. Also known as a book on a necklace. Or should we call it a neckbook? Check ... http://shamelessacademic.com/a-neckheld-book/ When my friend SLC at seemingly random sent a message saying that I could get a free spicy chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A, I was skeptical. I’ve learned that, when restaurants offer free food, people go crazy. Bad things happen. The chances of actually receiving the food are slim. I signed up ... http://shamelessacademic.com/kudos-to-chick-fil-a/ Introduction: My parents are out of town, and I’m staying with my sisters. Right now, my role is mostly taxi-driver and cook. My grandmothers both live nearby, so I’m also helping them however I can. Grandmama  is my mom’s mom. She’s almost fiercely independent, even though she is blind and can’t ... http://shamelessacademic.com/realizing-what-matters/ Simplify. Declutter. Eliminate. Streamline. These are big themes in my life right now. I’m frustrated by the amount of clutter (physical and mental) in my life right now, but my progress in simplifying has been halting, at best. Today, I was thinking about how I could simplify, and I had a ... http://shamelessacademic.com/1-way-to-simplify-right-now/ On the drive to Italy, we were supposed to spend our time practicing Italian. We had trouble concentrating, though. I heard a rumor that some people were listening to Pavarotti, too. When we arrived at our host church in Fontannafredda, we felt very welcome. Why? Well, there was a welcome sign. There was ... http://shamelessacademic.com/mmt-23-italy-part-1/ It’s been a while, I know. But now, we return to our irregularly scheduled mission team reports. At the rate I’m going, I’ll have to hurry to finish these before the mission team goes out again (without me this time, though). After two days in very rural Slovakia, we headed to ... http://shamelessacademic.com/mmt-22-vienna-austria/ “But you denied the Holy and Righteous one . . . and you killed the Author of life.” Acts 3:14-15 Injustice bothers me. I’ll see people who seem to get away with terrible things, and suffer no consequences. Sometimes, my sense of injustice makes it hard for me to function. I’ll ... http://shamelessacademic.com/injustice/ Today when I was using Google Insights for Search, my Google toolbar observed that the page was in Ukranian and helpfully offered to translate it for me. Thanks, Google, but actually this page is not in Ukranian. Google thinks the page is in Ukranian. http://shamelessacademic.com/google-error/