Thought Patterns

it can happen to anyone.

I said that in a post recently (yesterday?) about Dreamhost having a big billing problem.

My cable company (who also has my internet and telephone) apparently had its own boo-boo. Not sure if my rarely used Charter address is one of them.

Cable Co. Empties 14,000 E-Mail Accounts
Jan 24, 2:28 PM (ET)

By JIM SALTER

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Charter Communications officials believe a software error during routine maintenance caused the company to delete the contents of 14,000 customer e-mail accounts.

There is no way to retrieve the messages, photos and other attachments that were erased from inboxes and archive folders across the country on Monday, said Anita Lamont, a spokeswoman for the suburban St. Louis-based company.

"We really are sincerely sorry for having had this happen and do apologize to all those folks who were affected by the error," Lamont said Thursday when the company announced the gaff.

Charter, one of the nation's largest cable TV operators, also provides telephone and high-speed Internet service. It has applied a $50 credit to the bill of each customer whose account was affected by the mistake, Lamont said.

Charter gives each new Internet user a free e-mail account, but some customers opt to use other accounts instead. So every three months the company deletes inactive accounts, Lamont said.

"During this maintenance we erroneously deleted active accounts along with the others," Lamont said. "It's never happened before. They are taking steps to make sure it never happens again."

Charter provides service in 29 states, and Lamont said the affected customers were scattered around the country. All told, the company has about 2.6 million high-speed Internet subscribers.

Computer experts advise backing up all important e-mail.

—

On the Net:

.http://www.charter.com

(source)

Now that the headaches have eased (I'm nervous to actually say they are gone), I have been busy writing and doing the little things I haven't been able to do.

I've mentioned a few times but I thought I would mention it again 'cause, well, I want to. I have several aquariums. Currently, I have four.

• 2.5 gallon is horribly overstocked with Pomecea bridgesii (brigs) snails and blond juvenile Marisa cornuarietis (marisa) snails.
• 10 gallon has Neocaridina denticulata sinensis (red cherry) shrimp; Planorbidae sp. (red ramshorn) snails; and Thiaridae Melanoides tuberculatus (trumpet) snails. Oh, and loads of planaria I can't get rid of. This is my "planted tank".
• 10 gallon has the male brigs, striped juvenile marisas, and Viviparus malleatus (trapdoor) snails as well as 3 Loricariidae Ancistrus sp. (bristlenose) catfish.
• 25 gallon has three goldfish (an Oranda, a Ruyinkin, and a Shubunkin) and two adult Bristlenose.

In a little bin on top the filter on the 2.5 gallon tank are some itty bitty baby Pomecea canaliculata (cana) snails and some itty bitty baby marisas.

In a few days or so, I will be getting a huge honkin' 150 gallon tank that will house the fish in either the whole tank or about half of it.

Except for the snails, I get almost all my fish stuff at Asheville Aquarium. They're cool folk who know their stuff.

The little 2.5 gallon tank sits here on the desk next to me. All the female brigs and the un-genderized juvenile brigs are in there so I get to watch them all day (and night). They are so funny to watch! I never thought I would like snails but I actually do. With the big tank about to get picked up, I'll be able to move them out of there and put the itty bitty babies in it. I'll get to watch them grow.

Humor is important to me. It keeps me sane(ish). My fish and snails make me laugh. They don't bark when it is time to eat, they don't leave fur on my pants and shirt, and they don't pee in the kitchen because it is raining outside. (sigh) They don't hog the bed or bark at the slightest sound imagined or real.

So I've been messing with them. I've been writing. I've been reading. Just finished a book (fantasy) called The Prince of Shadows by Curt Benjamin. It is an excellent book and I could not put it down. There's some weird editing things in it that ticked me off but I think that is normal for most writers when they read someone else's stuff. Another book I recently read is Paladin of Souls by Bujold. Great book. The language takes some getting used to (very formal) but I got into the swing of it easy enough.

Two things I dislike about many books: can't find the title because the author's name is bigger and the back cover is what others say about the book, not a synopsis of the book itself. And recently the quotes on the back aren't all about the book itself, but other books by the author. Please! I picked up this book for a reason! Don't give me a better reason to put it down!

That's a magical number, you know.

According to Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it is the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

It is the jersey number worn by Jackie Robinson. It is also the number worn by Pat Tillman when he played football at the Arizona State University.

It is also:

# the number of generations (names) in the Gospel of Matthew's version of the Genealogy of Jesus.
# The number of months the Beast will hold dominion over the Earth (Revelation 13:5).
# In January 2005, Asteroid 2001 DA42 was given the name Asteroid Douglasadams, named for the author Douglas Adams that popularized the number 42 and died in 2001. With even his initials in the provisional designation, Brian G. Marsden, the director of the Minor Planet Center and the secretary for the naming committee, said, "This was sort of made for him, wasn't it?"

from Wikipedia

So, yeah, it is a magical number and worthy of mentioning today, of all days, and for the next 365 days or so.

'Cause today, August 2nd, was my 42nd birthday.

Your Score: The Deer

Here's your results! Your spirit animal has a Nobility ranking of 10 out of 18.

Your spirit animal is the deer. They are a respectable and beautiful animal. They are fearful and timid at times and are considered as having only slightly above average nobility and wisdom. The deer is a fairly common guardian, and you can feel proud knowing it will serve you well.

***Wondering how this animal was chosen for you? These questions were carefully thought out to see how important you hold certain virtues such as: humanism, self-knowledge, rationalism, the love of freedom and other somewhat Hellenic ideals. Some of the questions were very subtle. Your score was then matched with an animal of corresponding nobility. However, you shouldn't think this was a right/wrong sort of test, but more of an idealistic values test. It's ok to not hold these values, you'll just get an animal spirit of lower stature if you do!***

Link: The What is Your Spirit Animal Test written by FindingEros

Okay. Like, totally weird but, they are good.

News article about the Young@heart senior "choir" from Opednews.

YouTube video of the group.

"I wanna be sedated" by the Romones

"Schizophrenia" by Sonic Youth

"Fix You" by Coldplay

Dang, I missed this years fun.

Oh, and in case you can't figure it out for yourself NSFW!!

Why Masturbate? Why Masturbate-a-thon?

Despite great strides in sex-positive education, masturbation for many remains a taboo subject. We believe:

* Masturbation is the safest sex.

* More masturbation means more sexual self-awareness.

* Masturbation with a partner can be educational and hot.

Masturbate-A-Thon website
Masturbate-A-Thon history

One of the major sponsors is GoodVibrations, my fave toy store.

I have sleep apnea, whoopie. Anyway, I've used a LOT of masks since being diagnosed about three years ago (wow, has it been that long??).

I have a new one now, a ComfortLite 2. Not bad. Quiet, which Lorna likes.

I had the DreamFit Nasal Mask. Ugh. Hated it. Leaked, never really fit right, leaked, noisy. But I wore it every night like a good girl.

I had a Breeze the longest and loved it. Noisy, though, but rarely leaked.

The ResMed Mirage Swift was noisy as heck. I liked it though, because it rarely leaked. But, dang, it was noisy!

I've had others, too, but not for very long. The idea is to have something comfortable enough that the patient will wear it. I wouldn't wear them so I took 'em back.

Click the link below to see images.

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