Last night, Jay had to go out of town. It wasn't a business trip, and it didn't sound like it was much fun...but it was necessary. He had an appointment at a sleep clinic to be tested to see if he has sleep apnea. I've been concerned about this for a while, since I noticed that he appears to stop breathing periodically during sleep. (That's the definition of sleep apnea).

So it was off the VA hospital northwest of the city for the night. He had a motel style room, with bath, and a technician to run the equipment while he slept. He told me it took 45 minutes for the elelctrodes and monitoring equipment to be attached, after he did some baseline measures for calibraiton of the equipment. He went to bed between 10:30 and 11 PM, and he told the technician when he was going to bed. The test began a few minutes after that, and ended at 6:30 AM, when the techician woke him to remove the electrodes.

Now, we have about a month to wait until the results are available; he is to phone for them in a month. All the techician would say this morning was that Jay moved a lot, and that the testing yielded "good data". Bottom line is, we're not sure what to think. I suppose we'll just have to wait.

While surfing the internet today, I came across Virtual ScratchPad. Matthew Sheffield, the blog's author, has described a simple way of putting categories into Blogger. See his postfor complete instructions, code and information. This looks like a good approach if you have not yet implimented categories on Blogger, and would like to do so.

For some time, I have read a number of online computing newsletters. Among them is Inforpackets Gazette, by Dennis Faas. Doug, my collaborator on The Handicapped Computerist, also reads Infopackets. Yesterday, I returned from lunch to find an IM from Doug: "E-MAIL". He had sent me a copy of an e mail he received from Dennis, who has invited interested bloggers to participate in writing articles for inclusion in Infopackets. Doug responded to that invitation by telling Dennis about "HC" (our shorthand for The Handicapped Computerist), and Dennis has invited us to be contributors! Both Doug and I are very excited to be asked to contribute to Infopackets. If you'd like to subscribe, it's free, and you will find much useful and informative content, along with files to download, if you enjoy trying new programs.

...and this is one guest I don't want to see; Katrina was bad; Rita looks as bad or worse as she is already a Category 5 storm. Our family will be okay I think (although we expect some rain, flash flooding that is not unusual for the area) and some high wind.) I just spoke to Barbara, a good friend who lives in Corpus Christi with her sons and her mother and other family members. Barbara and company are leaving tomorrow morning early for Dallas; I told her if they need to stop and rest, they can do so here. I really feel badly for all of the Louisiana evacuees who came to Texas because of Katrina; some of them are being forced to move yet again because of Rita's threat.

Because of the impact of Katrina, Texas was declared a disaster area because so many of our resources have been needed to care for Louisiana evacuees. I am asking God to help us all through the next few days.

I was a child in 1961, when Hurrican Carla smashed into the gulf coast like an unwelcome houseguest and decided to stay a few days. Even in our area, we had heavy rains and high winds then; I still remember being scared half to death, and I haven't liked storms since.

I freely admit to being a very organized person. I liked keeping track of things on paper in the "old" days; I carried my planner everywhere I went for a long time. Now I've moved things to my computer, but old habits die hard, and I have my new, personal web pages to help me stay sane these days. One of the features I wanted in my personal pages was a calendar, to help keep track of important dates and appointments. I wanted a calendar that looks sharp, is easy to use, and can be customized and easily edited. Just by the way, it would be nice if it didn't cost mega-bucks. Doug found the perfect calendar package for my needs.

The HTML Calendar Generator meets all of my criteria, with style. The software will generate a calendar for your webpage by creating files for the entire year, the current month, and for individual months. There is a simple FTP client that will publish the files to a server for a live web page. (At first, we thought this would be a problem, because my personal pages are not on a server; they are of course in a directory on my hard drive.) It turned out this was not an issue, because once the files are created using the generator (more about that in a minute), there is an option to "write" the files to the program's directory on the hard drive. When the files are written (which takes no time at all, I simply went to the folder, following the path provided in the generator, and moved the calendar.html file plus the files for the individaul and current months to the same folder where my personal pages files are stored. Then, I opened the page the calendar would appear on in my text editor and simply pasted an html link to the calendar.html file, saved it, and refreshed the page in my browser. No javascript to deal with, and it worked in a flash.

The Calendar Generator Screenshot: The first thing to do after you've downloaded the software is to click the Configure button. There are more than 80 configuration options to work with, and more information is availabe by choosing Configuration from the software site's main page menu. If you need to make changes after you generate your calendar, just run the generator again, make your changes, then write (or publish) the files again, and if necessary, move the files to the appropriate directory.

Cool features:

Set recurring dates (holidays, birthdays, other special events occurring on the same date each year) by clicking the Recurring tab under the configuration menu. View Screenshot.

Notice that in the screenshot of the main window of the software that, on the bottom of the main screen, a calendar for the current month appears. Double-click on any date in the calendar, and add up to ten notes and up to ten URL's for that date. This is handy for noting appointments or other important information. You can also add images to the dates by entering the image path and filename or the image filename for image files that are stored in the same folder or directory with the calnedar files.

Add additonal html for your calendar page: Screenshot. This section allows you to modify the default html that the program writes for your calendar.

Additional HTML option: This option tells the program whilch additional html option to use.

Path and name of header file / Path and name of footer file: If select the "External files instead" option then you will need to specify those external files here. Your calendar will be inserted between the header and footer files, creating one new file. Basically to use this option just create a page that looks like you want and split it into two parts at the point where you want the calendar to be inserted.

This HTML code will appear before the calendar / This HTML code will appear after the calendar: If you select the "Add HTML below to default" option then you will need to enter the HTML code you want in the appropriate boxes.

The Bottom Line:

If you need a calendar for your webpage or local personal page, you will find the HTML Calendar Generator has an attractive interface; it is easy to use, easy to customize, and best of all, it's free!

I've finally finished re entering the data into my rolodex software, and while I was about it, I put the data into my personal pages' address book page. I am so happy to have that task off my to-do list. It was on the list for a long time, and I got tired of looking at it.

I created a table for the address book page, and I must say, it does look professional. Doug helped me sort out a few issues with the table's code, and we got it working well last night.

The more I use the personal pages, the more indispensable they become. I used to dump all sorts of things into my blog for easy access, but now I just put these items into the personal pages. I like having access whether or not I am online. I even got the idea to put two of my blogs' entries on my personal pages, so now it's easy to store things I will want to post later, plus it's a good backup. My Kitchen Classics blog and my Gems blog lend themselves to inclusion in my personal pages quite easily.

It's a nice, quiet weekend, for once.

I spoke to my Dad this morning. He said he had a good night, without much pain until he woke this morning, then a pain pill took care of the appreciable pain he did have then. He said he will be able to go back to his usual activities in a day or two, according to his doctor; he has to see the doctor again in a week to ten days. He just about made my day when he told me he and my mom went out to eat last night. That, more than anything, tells me his having the surgery was a good thing to do. He really will feel much better once he finishes the recovery process.

My Dad has had his surgery. It went well, and he is safely home. My mother had to stop on the way home to get something for him to drink because his mouth was dry, but he's in good shape. I feel better too. It's been a nerve-wracking couple of days.

I called to speak to my dad yesterday; he had loaned us a small television set sometime ago, and I wanted to ask if I could donate it to some Hurricane Katrina evacuees who are settling here. My dad was not home, but my mother answered the phone. in the course of our conversation, she tol d me that my dad is going to have surgery tomorrow to have one of his eyes removed. He has been blind in that eye since he was a small child, so it's not like he's losing anything functional. He's having it removed because he keeps having painful infections that will not clear, and he's been using eye drops to control the pain up to now and finally decided just to have it removed. Still, I've had eye surgery myself, and I know what it's like. Plus, my dad is a senior citizen, and while he will likely be okay, anything could potentially happen. I did get hold of him last night, and when asked hoow he is, he said he is fine, and is not scared "because the good Lord will take care of this." He has peace about it. I just keep thinking about all the times he was with me in the hospital whan I was a child and later when I was grown. One time, I had a small surgical procedure, and he stayed with me until I sent him home at 2:30 AM. Told him it was silly for him to stay just to watch me sleep, and to go home and rest.
He's always had a strong work ethic, has my dad; he told me he plans to be back working within a week or so after the surgery. He will eventually have an artificial eye, but there will be a blank shell at first while he heals. I am not pleased with being given the news about the surgery a scant 48 hours before the procedure; I've had no time to prepare for this on an emotional level; while the logical level says it will likely be fine, emotionally it's difficult. Communication skills have never been strongly emphasized in my family of origin; this is just the latest illustration of that. I will be working at home tomorrow so that I can stay near the phone.

Last week, I got word that my ex mother-in-law was in the hospital with a kidney stone and dehydration. She's in poor health also.

Jay found my old ID today (the one I mentioned losing in a post on August 6.) I knew it would likely reappear after I got the new one, and it did. It was in an envelope that was on the floor on his side of the bed.

I received the following piece in my e mail from the Inspiration List. It's too good not to share:

"Live in such a way that those who know you but don't know God will
come to know God because they know you."
- Anonymous

The Escalator Angel
The crisp February morning chilled the crowd that waited to catch the
MARTA, Atlanta's public rail system. When the train arrived, I moved
with the others toward vacant seats. Mechanical sounds punctuated the
trip: the humming of electric motors and the loud bell before the
doors slid shut.

As we settled into our parallel journeys, I looked around. I work at
home, and consequently don't often take public transit at rush hour.
This morning I was on my way into the city for a seminar. The size and
diversity of the crowd on the train surprised me. In our single car,
there were African-Americans, European-Americans and Asians -- a
generous representation of world society.

But there was no interaction. Business men and women had their
briefcases open, poring over papers filled with charts and columns.
Casually dressed students studied books. One young man had on
headphones and swayed in a slow dance to his private music. I'm a
fiction man, myself. I travel with a novel handy.

But today I didn't open it. I was too busy studying those around me;
something felt strange.

I didn't realize what it was until I'd disembarked at Five Points, the
connecting point for the east and west trains. In this cavernous
space, I joined perhaps a thousand commuters waiting for their trains.

Here I realized what was so eerie: the total silence. One thousand
people, packed cheek to jowl, looking straight ahead, pretending the
others didn't exist. And I, a 50-year-old white man, wearing a blue
suit and glasses, was one of them. The only sound two stories under
Atlanta's streets was the hum of the escalators.

And then came a woman's voice. "Good Morning!"

The greeting echoed through the station. A thousand heads snapped up
in unison, scanning the space. The voice had come from a woman riding
the descending escalator on the far side of the platform. "How y'all
this morning?"

She practically sang her words, punctuating her speech with long vowel
extensions. People began to turn toward her.

The petite African-American woman reached the bottom of the escalator
and walked purposefully to the edge of the throng. She grabbed a
surprised businessman's hand, shook it and looked him in the eye.
"Good morning! How ya doing this morning?"

The man looked at the small woman who had him in her grip. He broke
with a smile. "Fine, thank you."

Her clothes were a little ragged, but her purposeful smile overcame
her stature and appearance as she moved through the crowd, shouting
greetings, shaking hands and laughing freely. Finally, she looked
across the tracks at the crowd on my side of the platform. "How ya'll
folks over there this morning?"

"Just fine" I shouted back. Others answered with me. We surprised each
other so much that we broke out laughing.

"That's good," she said. She paused and looked around. Now everyone
was listening. "God sent me here to cheer you up this morning. And
that's the God of the Jew, the Christian, the Muslim and any other
religions ya'll brought or didn't bring along."

From where I stood, I could see a twinkle in her eye. Amazingly, the
train station came alive with good-natured conversation. As we chatted
with each other, few noticed the slight woman quietly ascend the up
escalator.

When the northbound train arrived, I squeezed into a car already
stuffed with riders. I didn't get much past the door and grabbed a
chrome pole that already had hands of every racial color gripping it.
My face looked straight into that of an African-American woman about
my age. She wore a light yellow business suit. I sensed she didn't
like the press of people around us.

Before I could stop myself, I said, "Good morning."

"What?" she seemed surpised.

"Good morning. How are you doing?" A few people watched us. A smile
overtook her. "Fine," she chuckled. "You know, nobody's asked me that
this morning. Really, nobody ever says 'hello.'"

I grinned and told her about the unexpected visitor back at Five
Points, wondering aloud if she might have been an angel. "Isn't that
what angels do?
They're messengers. That woman demonstated the goodness of simply
greeting each other, sharing our humanity, instead of guarding it."

Others around the pole joined the discussion, and smiles spread
through the car.

The woman across from me, now grinning, said "If It weren't so crowded
in here, I'd give you a good hug. You've made my morning."

When the train arrived at my stop, I moved toward the door. "I hope
you have a good day!" I called back to my fellow traveler.

"I will, and thank you."

As I looked back into the car, I saw lots of smiles. People were
chatting. Someone else touched my shoulder and waved goodbye. I felt
happy and alive.

Since then, I've often wondered who that woman was. She didn't have
wings; she ascended and descended an escalator and she spoke in a
Southern drawl. But silent people who were temporarily buried two
stories below Atlanta began to talk and laugh. A chilly February day
felt warmer, and a shy guy like me suddenly hasn't been able to keep
himself from greeting and talking with strangers on subway trains,
elevators and airplanes. But isn't that what a more famous angelic
message proclaimed: "Good will to all"?

In other words, good cheer is contagious. Pass it on.

On Tuesday, Jay went to run some errands and I was preparing to log in to work, when my wireless phone went dead. No problem; charge the battery by dropping the phone into its base. The phone in the living room was working, so I figured I was okay. I was wrong. I loaded my Start Page into my browser, and discovered I could not connect to any website. The modem lights were flashing green; it needed to be reset. I stood up to try to find out if there as a reset button on the modem itself (there isn't, more's the pity), and promptly lost my balance. I wasn't hurt by the fall because I learned to fall before I learned to walk. I maanaged to unplug the computer from the wall outlet, then could not plug it in again, try as I might.

Finally, I just gave up. Next task: how to get off the floor. That proved much more difficult. I spent about two hours on the floor before I finally managed to get up. Since the phone is on a cable modem, it was still out, so I had no means to call anyone for help, and could not call work.

Shortly after I was able to get up, Jay came home and plugged the computer in and all was well as far as the phone/computer/modem was concerned. I called my supervisor, in tears, and explained what had happened. I was in no shape to work. I was sore and bruised, with carpet burns just to add insult to injury.

Yesterday, I was still extremely sore; it hurt to take a deep breath and it hurt to cough, let alone move. Today, I'm somewhat less sore, but it's still noticeable. *Sigh*.

My son sent me an IM this morining (no big deal, he does that a lot) to ask me what I knew about his grandmother (my ex-mother-in-law). Answer: Nothing. I asked him to call me. Turns out, she is in the hospital with dehydration and a kidney stone. Her husband had been trying to care for her at home, but she did not improve, so he took her to the doctor and the doctor admitted her to the hospital.

On a happier note: Jay's Dad is home safely from Afghanistan, thank God. He arrived home late yesterday.

Today is your birthday, son. How well I remember the night you were born! We barley made it to the hospital in time, and you still cringe when I mention one of the "delivery room stories." You know which one! You have come through some rough times in your life (and welcome to being in the world, because we all have rough times), but I am very proud of you. You have a very caring heart. I hope this year holds many wonderful times for you. I love you.

Happy Labor Day to those in the US. I don't have major plans for today...yet. I continue to work on my personal webpages, which is developing nicely into an actual site. I have some ten pages either up or in the planning stages. Who would've thought all of this would come from learning to edit a blog template?

Over the weekend I edited my index page, and spent some of yesterday working on two calendars for my pages. Finding content is proving to be no challenge, as I have plenty to work with. I am trying to be selective, since I obviously cannot include "everything", much as I'd like to. I started this entire project with some trepidation since I'm so new to it all. I'm doing my best to remember to work on just a single page at a time. That keeps things from becoming too confusing for the most part. I'm finding more resources to assist as well, including a table generator that is handy for my software cd index page. When I'm done, I will list all of my pages here.

We're in the process of planning a move. If we do it, it will happen in Decemberr. We really do want to leave here because the noise from the upstairs neighbors is sometimes intolerable. We have filed complaints with the management, but no action has been taken.