Last night, I was just drifting off to sleep when I heard a strange noise. Sort of like mini-blinds being swatted by a cat. Now, this was strange as both of our cats were on the bed with me. I got up and looked around the apartment to see if a squirrel had gotten in (again) or somthing along those lines, but couldn't find anything unusual other than a vague sulfur-ish, gun-powder-ish smell in the dining room (which also happens to be the computer room). I figured I was just crazy so I went back to bed.
This morning I woke up and went to the computer and was rather surprised when I hit the magic switch (a switch I wired up to turn on the power-strip where my monitors, speakers, and printer are plugged in) and the monitors didn't come on. I also noticed that it was very quiet (well relatively so). In fact, my desktop machine didn't seem to be on at all. This seemed odd, since it's the only one of the three computers that's on a UPS. I hit the power switch (which is made more complex by the fact that I broke the switch on the case off and so have to reach through the hole in the case to the switch behind it) and... nothing.
Long story short... a resistor in the power supply had blown up (minor scorching and little ceramic bits floating around in the power supply). This was distressing. So I had to go get a new one this afternoon, and install it.
It turned out to be one of the easiest repair/replacement jobs I've ever done on a computer, so that's a good thing.I salvaged the fan and a fuse from the old one, also a bunch of wire. (Yeah, I'm a packrat.) I'm trying to get the power switch out but it's not cooperating. Anyway... that's my little computer saga for today.
The lesson: if you smell sulfur in your computer room in the middle of the night, check to see if the computer is still running.

I'm a Cubs fan. Always have been, always will be most likely. We Cubs fans have our sacred traditions, among these is the singing of "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" during the seventh inning stretch. And a Wrigley, we use "Root, root, root for the Cubbies" rather than "Home Team." Variation from this is not tolerated... usually. But tonight, Bob Uecker, long time announcer for that team that plays at Wrigley North (otherwise known as Miller Park), was the guest singer tonight, and when he got to that part of the song, he sang:

I'll root, root, root for the Brewers... You do the same for the Cubs.

In this case, it's not only something that I'd tolerate, but in fact, I find it quite classy. I've always felt that I have more respect for a Cardinals or Brewers fan who is true to their team than the Lincoln Park Trixieswho claim to be Cubs Fans. So... Rock On Bob Uecker.

On Tuesday night, our two cats were very upset by a cat outside who was crying and carrying on. We went outside and found a very small kitten on the porch wearing a collar, but no tags. In our backyard we have seen some good sized wildlife (raccoons and the like) and didn't think this was a good place for a lost kitten, so we brought him inside for the night. We put him in the carrier with some food, water and a gladware container of litter.
The next morning we took him to our vet to see if he was microchipped, which he was not (it was at this point that we found out that the kitten was male). So we put up signs around our neighborhood to try to find an owner.
We knew we couldn't keep the kitten, since we already have 2 cats (with a combined weight of nearly 40 pounds) and a baby on the way. We decided we would wait till the weekend, and then take him to a shelter. Unfortunately all of the no-kill shelters are full right now. Lucky for us (and the kitten) someone I've spoken to on IRC several times, and am familiar with from Usenet, sent me a message saying that she wanted to adopt a cat, and had been planning on going to a shelter, but would take this kitten if the owner was not found.
Well, upon introduction, Shelia and the kitten seem to get along well, and, assuming the owner isn't found, I think the kitten will be happy in his new home.
Goodbye little kitten. We hardly knew ye.

So, I think I've finally got the menu sorted. It works in Mozilla, and I've been told it looks okay in IE... so there's that. I also think I've fixed the issue with post background in IE as well. So, now the menu looks like crap for the rest of the site, but oh well. I'll fix it tomorrow in between fits and spurts of cleaning. Whoof.