Josh Moody

I decided to go for a walk late this evening. There’s a walking trail in town that I used to visit quite often, and I am trying to start walking more. When I do go walking, it’s frequently fairly late at night… it’s not uncommon for me to go at 9 or 10 PM. The trail is paved and has lights at regular intervals (though several are burned out), and there are usually several people out, even at this time of night.

When I first started going out there a little more than a year ago, I worried a bit about being out there alone at night. Not that I’m a scaredy cat or anything, but let’s face it: There are some not-so-nice people in this world. Not-so-nice people tend to lurk in the shadows. On this walking trail, there are plenty of shadows…

I got over it after a couple walks, and hadn’t worried about it since.

Tonight, I went out around 10 and walked 2 miles. Upon arriving back at my car 1/2 hour later, I opened the door and realized the passenger side window was missing. Well, I guess it wasn’t exactly missing. I knew exactly where it was: in thousands of pieces all over the interior of my car.

My center console was open, and had obviously been gone through. I had left my wallet in the console and, surprisingly, it was still there on top of the pile. My driver’s license, credit card, and $3 in cash were still there. I guess the wallet wasn’t worth messing with.  I can’t tell that anything was stolen, luckily, I don’t usually keep valuables in my car.  I didn’t even have my iPod adapter in car tonight.

Mine wasn’t the only car hit. While on the phone with the police, I noticed a Ford Expedition had 2 windows broken out, and it appeared to have been searched too. The driver of the Expedition didn’t show up before I left, but the police were going to wait on them so they could get a report from them too.

Shortly after the police arrived, we saw somebody shooting off fireworks just down the walking trail. Thinking it might be related, 2 police officers went to investigate - but came back empty-handed.

This isn’t my first time to be the victim of a vehicle-related crime. When I was 18, somebody stole my 1986 Monte Carlo from my then-girlfriend, now-wife’s driveway. I had stupidly left the keys in the ignition. The police found it several hours later, undamaged, and being driving by a 14 year-old who had already been caught stealing 2 or 3 other cars in town for joyrides. I think he spent the night in jail, but that was about it.

The thing is, they’ll never catch the person(s) who did this, and even if they do, there will be little-to-no punishment.

After being exposed to Flickr for a project at work, I’ve finally joined the cool kids by putting my photos on Flickr. To avoid max upload restrictions, I had to spend $25/year for a pro account, but it’s worth it to get unlimited sets, uploads, and storage.

Some of Flickr’s features I like most:

• Great organization tools
• Easy uploader tool for both Mac and PC
• Multiple Access Levels (public, friends, family, private)
• Post Photos via email (camera phone + unlimited data plan = immediate posts of what I’m doing!)

I’ve spent quite a bit of time on Flickr this week while working on the aforementioned work-related project. Looking at all the amazing photos out there inspired me to get out with my camera.

I’ve taken thousands of digital snapshots over the years, but I’d like to take more than just snapshots. I want to capture things that other people actually want to see, instead of just pictures of the kiddos. Don’t get me wrong, pix of the kids are great to have, and I need to take more of those too, but there are lots of other things in the world to photograph. To this end, I spent a couple hours in downtown Conway this weekend, finding interesting things to shoot.

Here’s one of my favorites from the shoot:

You can view more shots from this weekend at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jgmoody/sets/72157605487590794/

Meet Neville. I don’t know much about him except that he’s a boxer, maybe 2 or 3 years old. He’s a sweet dog who has had a tough time and needed a place to stay until he could find a permanent home with an adoptive family.

As of today, we are participating in a fostering program with our local humane society. We don’t feel like we are ready for the commitment of adopting a dog, but have decided to open our home to dogs like Neville on a temporary basis.

If you are interested in giving this guy or others like him a home, please contact the Humane Society of Faulkner County web site. Don’t live in Faulkner County Arkansas? Then contact your local humane society.

Update: After having Neville with us for about 6 weeks, he was adopted by a great family.  Good luck Neville!  While the experience of being a foster family was rewarding, I don’t believe it’s one we are in a hurry to experience again.  Rachel was very disturbed when Neville left.  She got over it pretty quickly, but I hate doing that to her.  Also, I’m not real fond of dog poop in my yard.  Some people are dog people, some are cat people.  I’m a cat person, and do not apologize for this (David).

A crazy man tried to kill me tonight (or so it felt at the time).

Jamie and I joined a gym last week (Fitness Pro Team). I’ve worked out there 4 or 5 times so far, and have been enjoying it. They have nice equipment, and because I go late in the evenings (9-ish), there aren’t a lot of people around.

Like most gyms, they offer various classes in addition to the gym equipment. When we joined, the guy who sold us the membership (Rodney) told us he taught an intro to boxing class on Thursday nights. I thought that sounded like fun, so I decided to go this evening. Now that I’ve had a couple hours to recover, I guess I can say it was fun - but it was also the toughest workout I’ve ever had, or even imagined.

I didn’t know what to expect from a boxing class, and surely didn’t expect what I got. Here’s a run down.

We start out by spending a couple minutes on stationary bikes. No big deal. Then we move on to practicing our boxing stance and footwork while holding 5lb weights in each hand, plus a few arm excersises. No big deal. Then we work at 4 different stations practicing punch combinations on bags. This is really starting to turn into a workout. Then we do some floor exercises - crunches and leg lifts. Yeah, this is a pretty good workout. Then we get back on the bikes. By this point, I’m pretty tired, but we were almost finished, or so I think…

Next Rodney sets out some orange cones at each end of the room and tells us to run from one end to the other, then run backwards to the starting position. We continue this until the bells rings. When the bell finally rings (after about a dozen trips back and forth across the room), we stop running and start jumping jacks. When the bell rings again, we stop jumping and start push ups. I thinking I’m going to collapse during the jumping jacks, but by the time we switch to push ups at the next bell ring, I’m certain I’m going to need an ambulance. Finally, the final bells rings and we are dismissed from the torture chamber.

I manage to make it out to my car, where I collapse in the seat and wonder if I should call my wife before heading to the ER.

The really sick thing is I’m thinking about going again next week!

A report from the Benton Courier says a deputy with the Saline County Sheriff’s department accidentally discharged his weapon at the local IHOP.

A local businessman who arrived at the restaurant after the incident said he was told about the gunshot by a restaurant employee.
According to that account, a deputy who had been at the restaurant for lunch accidentally discharged his weapon while he was in the men’s restroom.
The shot reportedly went through the restroom ceiling, where there is a bullet hole.
Several people inside the restaurant apparently heard the shot.
According to the businessman, who asked to remain anonymous, the restaurant employee asked the deputy what the noise was and the deputy allegedly replied, “The toilet seat fell, making the noise.”
“And with that, (the deputy) proceeded to walk out of the restaurant,” the businessman said. “He lied to the waitress on his way out the door, according to her.”
A member of management with IHOP reportedly followed the deputy into the parking lot. The IHOP representative “confronted (the deputy) on the parking lot and then he ‘fessed up to it,” the employee said.

Way to go, Barney. Keep your bullet in your shirt pocket like Andy tells you, and this wouldn’t happen.

Read the complete story here.

Ever wondered how many people share your first and last name? You don’t have to wonder any longer.

www.howmanyofme.com/

I was listening to one of the local talk radio stations on the way home this evening (I only recently lifted a boycott of their show I initiated after they fired their 3PM to 6PM talk host last Dec.). A guy named Dave Elswick does the afternoon show now, and he is a huge concealed handgun advocate. I’m not going to fault him for that, because I share his belief that the right to keep and bare arms is granted to the American people by the 2nd Amendment. I have even considered getting a concealed weapon permit myself. This is where my beliefs diverge from those of Mr Elswick.

His thoughts are that teachers in public schools who have a carry permit should be able to take a gun to the classrom in order to defend themselves and their students. Hogwash! We should be making sure no guns get into the schools not bringing more into the schools!

I would not oppose the possesion non-lethal items such as pepper spray or stun guns by school staff, but firearms? Are you nuts?

The really disturbing thing is how many idiots were calling in to the show supporting the concept of teachers with guns. While I do support the right of people to keep and bare arms, I do not believe that guns are always the answer. In fact, I think guns are very seldom the answer, and certainly not in our schools.

Q: How much does it cost to replace a bad Apple MacBook Pro battery under warranty?
A: $108 + tax.

This weekend, my laptop started flaking out if you disconnected the AC power. It would have a full charge, but as soon as you unplugged, the battery would rapidly discharge before shutting down about 15 minutes later. It wouldn’t start again until I reconnected AC power. I’m not the ony one who has experienced this problem.

Yesterday, I called Apple’s tech support. I’m still under the 1-year warranty for hardware support, but phone support for diagnosing problems expired a couple weeks ago. Grrrr! I had the option to pay a $49 diagnoses fee to proceed with phone support, but I opted to take it down the road to CompUSA instead. Figured I could get them to diagnose the problem and have Apple send me a new battery. No such luck. CompUSA said they’d have to send it off to Apple for diagnoses/repair (something about too many fraudulent warranty claims).

I wasn’t prepared to send it off to Apple for two reasons:

1. I don’t have a backup computer.
2. To avoid the possibility of personal information (passwords, ssh keys, etc.) falling into the wrong hands, I would have to wipe the hard drive before sending it off. I know two people who have very recently had their computers lost (stolen?) from the shipping facility after being sent off for repairs - so it’s certainly possible. To be completely accurate, I know one person, and know of another person who this has happened to — but you get the idea.

So, I go back to the office and call Apple back and agree to pay $49 for the support call. 30 minutes later, after making me jump thru various hoops, Apple decides it is indeed a hardware problem. They said they’d overnight a new battery to me (I got it this morning), and mark the support call as non-billable. So I don’t have to pay anything.

The astute reader would ask at this point: So what’s with the $108 + tax?

Well…. I got a flat tire while taking my computer to CompUSA yesterday. By the time I realized there was a flat, the tire had already been damaged beyond repair. My car is at the tire shop right now getting have a new tire mounted — for a cost of $108 + tax.

While I’m not blaming Apple for my flat tire, per se, I wouldn’t have gotten the flat had the battery not been bad in my laptop. On second thought, I guess I am blaming Apple for the flat tire.

That people will haul off all of the junk you’ve been hiding in your closet for years, AND they’ll pay you for it? Continue reading “Did you know…”

I’ve lived in Conway, Arkansas for 10 years (wow, has it really been that long?), but I still call Mena my hometown. I have a lot of family & friends in Mena, and we still go there during the Holidays.

Mena is a small, quiet town in west-central Arkansas [map]. It is the county seat of Polk County, and is home to about 6000 people. Mena is a great place for people who enjoy the outdoors, and provides terrific hunting and fishing. Mena sits in a valley and is surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery. People come from all over the state to see the fall colors on Rich Mountain each year.

If you you ever happen to pass thru Mena, be sure to stop by my favorite restaurant, Chiquita’s. They serve the best Mexican food in town! Chiquita’s is in the North Side Shopping Center, right across the street from Wal-Mart on Hwy 71.

For more information about Mena, please visit www.mena-ark.com.