Phantascene.com's Journal

No reliable signal in Alaska for Dish Network

2012-01-27T11:03:00.000-09:00

This would be why I am so unhappy with Dish Network. This is how my TV looks for several minutes at least a third of the time when I want to watch something. And on top of that hassle, it is completely out with just the blue box showing up for around 4 days out of a month. I call them to ask why I only get a signal from the satellite half the time and they say they have no idea. I ask if it can

Where do little external hard drives come from?

2012-01-24T19:56:00.000-09:00

After I got into serious 3D work, I ended up having an even more funny looking computer system. I already had a dual monitor system, with twin monitors on my work computer and my personal computer off to the side with a single monitor, then my laptop on occasion and a small TV for watching news. My printer and a external hard drive. Now it looks like my computer is giving birth to External Hard

Does Gossip Bear Repeating?

2012-01-24T19:40:00.000-09:00

I was asked by someone "Does gossip bear repeating?" as part of a discussion on my perspective that Newt Gingrich was in the wrong at the South Carolina debate to attack John King for asking if Gingrich would like to address a very recent accusation made by his ex-wife that had gone viral on the Internet. My response to if gossip bears repeating is: If it displays the moral and ethical views of

Need to consolidate my office

2012-01-24T19:27:00.000-09:00

As a freelance writer and amateur journalist, one of the things I go through a lot of is printed documents that pertain to one story or another. Page after page of information that I print out and sort and file away to bring back out when it is needed for one project or another. I need to get my office organized with a file system I can easily access, document imaging software, a good scanner, a

Censored by SOPA!

2012-01-18T17:31:00.000-09:00

What freedom do you have online? Can you visit ? It is a wonderful website that has some great educational videos on it. How about ? The pictures there are just so funny, I love the one with the dancing circus monkey begging tourists on the street for pennies, you can see it here . And make sure that if you ever go over to Italy you stay at this place, , the view is as amazing as you see

What ever happened to quality work?

2012-01-15T20:17:00.000-09:00

We had someone come in here in 2009 to replace the vent over the stove. Well, we had them come in to replace the faulty seal up on the roof, but they instead replaced the entire vent and then went up on the roof to re-caulk the vent pipe. In the process of going up onto the roof they put a boot through the roof of the porch, not admitting to that until I called them on it. Now, a year after they

Website issues

2012-01-03T10:50:00.000-09:00

Argh. I am trying to make sure all of my websites are updated, but am apparently having some website issues with the connection, because I can not get a bunch of them to load for me. Very frustrating! Hate it when I am in a mood to get work done and something like this happens. Thankfully site issues are relatively rare, but it is still so annoying to want to work and have my computer having

A Healthier Life in 2012

2011-12-30T15:00:00.000-09:00

Each year we all think that we will start living healthier in the new year, but each year most of us are going to fall right back into our old bad habits not long after the new year has started. Make this the year that everything changes. 2012 is a significant year in that it is the year the Mayan Long Count Calendar ends. It is scheduled to end on December 21, 2012. Many claim that this will

On My Own

2011-12-30T13:56:00.002-09:00

Post contributed by Leonard Phelps “No more teachers, no more books,” no more school for me! Now comes the painful reality that people call the real world. No longer will I be able to stay out all night and sleep through class the next day. Now I have to worry about clocking in on time and working until the day is nearly done; at least that is how it seems now. On a positive note, no

Quilting Headache - thread trouble

2011-12-17T00:37:00.000-09:00

I am working on a holiday quilt to sell, and hit on a nasty issue. My thread suddenly began to drop down under the material. It was all loose, so that the loops for the top thread were on the bottom of the quilt, with the bobbin thread just sort of channeling through them without being tucked back up into the material. Turned out after I tore the thread out and redid it three times, that I had

Why aren't heaters made to turn off when out of fuel?

2011-12-13T12:23:00.000-09:00

I'm not sure if it is just the kinds that have been in this place or all of these home fuel heaters, but the stupid things are not set to turn off when they run out of heater fuel, they just keep right on running and blowing progressively cooler air into the house until they are blowing freezing cold air into the house. And they keep that up until someone realizes that is what the thing is doing

Kitchen needs rebuilding

2011-12-06T14:45:00.000-09:00

If I end up managing to keep my home, then I think the first thing I am going to invest in it is a rebuild on the kitchen. Between the passage of years since it was first built, and the shoddy work of the low-bid contractor that built the house, the kitchen has a lot of issues with it. Even after the stove vent was supposed to have been fixed in 2009. it still has an issue with water getting into

Trying to tell a story without dialogue

2011-12-06T14:27:00.000-09:00

I picked up a 5.5 x 8.5 inch spiral bound sketch pad in town last night that I am using to make a storyboard book for a 3D film I want to create. The trouble is, I want to tell the story without speech, since I don't have any voice actors, and I am learning that it is harder than one might expect to draft a silent film. I suppose it would be easier if I went with the silent film style where cards

The holidays make us crazy

2011-12-06T14:03:00.000-09:00

The holiday shopping season is in full swing now, which means that the stores are seeing a spike in shoppers looking for the best in holiday deals to round out the empty spaces underneath the holiday trees. Pricy items are dropped into layaway at the stores that have it. Other items are hidden away in closets and behind blankets in the corners of bedrooms. Stocking stuffers and candy canes are

Green Lantern - well worth watching

2011-12-06T13:33:00.000-09:00

I finally got a chance to watch Green Lantern last night. Very good movie, that I recommend to anyone that likes Green Lantern. I read the Green Lantern Corps back in the 1980's and recognized a few of the other Lanterns they showed in the film. Most importantly was something my nephew noted about the movie. He had liked to read Spiderman when he was a kid, and he was disappointed with the

Poor little convertible is parked for the winter

2011-12-06T13:23:00.000-09:00

I find it highly frustrating to not be able to get my poor little convertible out the driveway, but my brother's truck got stuck when what had been a thick layer of snow in the driveway turned to a thick layer of slush. Nearly a foot of compressed snow was hit by a warm snap a few days ago, and became slush, so as soon as my brother drove over it with his big pickup it created deep ridges. Then

Destructo-Cat strikes again

2011-12-06T13:12:00.000-09:00

Woke up this morning to find that, at some point in the night, the cats had helped themselves to the two bags of popcorn I bought last night. One to eat, the second to string for the holiday tree. One bag made it through relatively intact, only had holes torn in it, but not much spillage. The second bag was half empty and the missing popcorn from it lay strewn across the floor like someone had

Science links genetics and UI

2011-12-03T14:05:00.000-09:00

As a caregiver, I pay close attention to the issues that caregivers face - rather I am personally impacted by them or not. One such point that I have found myself researching is urinary incontinence (UI) in adults. It was actually a surprise to me to discover that urinary incontinence affects approximately 17 million Americans, with an estimated 2 to 3% of adults over the age of 18 having

Mars in 3D

2011-12-03T12:36:00.000-09:00

I have been working on a 3D project lately, a Mars mission done in 3D using Blender and Daz Studio. There is a pretty steep learning curve with Blender, but once it has started being sorted out it is a wonderful program. Since I am still learning how to use Blender, and have not made it to the animation aspects of the program, I have been using Daz for most of the things I am doing for renders

I miss having horses

2011-12-03T12:30:00.000-09:00

One of the things I don't like about living in Alaska is that it is not a good place for keeping horses. Thirty years ago we had horses in Washington, not a lot, usually only two or three at a time, but for the years we pinged between Washington and Alaska we always had horses down there. I started riding when I was ten, helped my mom break my first pony when I was 11. I was never the type to

Foggily we move into December

2011-12-03T11:52:00.000-09:00

I have no idea how we have managed to let December sneak up on us, but here it is. December. Have you ever had one of those years where things just happen in such rapid-fire succession that you have no idea where the days have gone to? I had wanted to get out and get in some salmon fishing this past year, never made it. I also wanted to decorate the house for Halloween, but all I got was a row

-18 F and dropping fast outside

2011-11-27T07:04:00.001-09:00

Looks like my happy days of average weather for this time of year have curled up and gone back into hibernation, because tonight I have watches my wood pile dwindle down to near nothing and the thermometer both outside and inside drop steadily. As I write this is it 54 degrees F at my computer and -18 degrees F just outside the door beside me. My feet were so cold a little while ago I put my

Holiday Gifts for Families

2011-11-27T06:50:00.000-09:00

Some of the toys I have seen for sale this year are a little concerning, as I noted in my last post, so how about if we take a break from Holiday shopping ideas for kids and think about something that the whole family might like? Buying toys for kids probably should be left up to the parents or guardians of the kids, since they know what is appropriate for their kids, so if you want to get

Kids toys that can't be real... can they?

2011-11-27T06:09:00.000-09:00

We are getting close to the holidays, so what toys are out there for parents to look for for their children? After watching a few mornings of early morning cartoons I think the question might be what toys might shock parents. You and Me Interactive Triplets One toy that parents might find disturbing is one that has made the news lately. The so-called cursing baby doll in the Toys-R-Us dolls

Christmas gift ideas for younger kids

2011-11-27T02:26:00.000-09:00

While it is nice to have adult parties and festive cheer for the holidays, Christmas time really is for children. The delight of the little eyes as they stare at the glowing lights. Their wonderment as they gaze at the sky, watching for a sleigh pulled by reindeer. The anticipation of baking cookies to leave out for Santa and their cries of joy at the sight of a tree with presents underneath it.