August 1, 2008
-
I guess ya gotta take the good with the bad
THE GOOD AND THE BAD.
The Good: I was able to "upgrade" my website hosting today, achieving better service with a far less expensive plan. From $49.99 a month to $14.99 a month. www.allthingsmike.com will be down early next week but should be back online on the new servers by Tuesday. (Hopefully there won't be any bad with this good in the form of FTP problems but time will tell.
The Bad: My rent is going up $150.00 a month in November. (I'm staying where I live, and not having to move right now, because the Good is that I've found a new roommate. He's moving in at the first of next month.)
The Good: I'm redecorating. I don't think I can sell the bigscreen TV in the living room (after placing a few ads online) so I'm going to use it as an "analog display device" for the channels I don't yet get in HDTV and haven't watched on the TV in the media room. The Bad in this is that I'm going to be forced to get rid of the cats. They are still fouling the carpet and walls even though I gave them a new "dining room" and "bathroom". Mike (My new roommate) is allergic to cats, and they do cost money to keep. I won't call animal control (I'd feel like I was killing them). I'm going to find a cat adoption agency who will give the old girls a good home.
The Bad: Joel's passing (here shown in his twenties) has really caused a lot of apple carts to get upset. However, there is some good that's befalling me thanks to Joel besides having to go through the trouble of getting rid of a lot of his larger "stuff". He got a new bed less than a year ago, and it fits on top of my bedframe really nicely, and I've noticed my hip hasn't been hurting as much at night. (I even stopped taking the tylenol-codiene). Also, I've been looking for a windup pocket watch for quite some time, and voila, I opened an abandoned jewelry box and there was a beautiful pocket watch! Here's to ya Joel. Thanks buddy. I have to clean up after you as usual, but you're thanking me in other ways!
The Bad: I can't access my blog on Xanga. I can use the universal inbox. I can visit other sites. I can post entries. I can make comments on other sites. But as soon as I try to see my public display or any other page that has "baldmike2004" in it, even if I'm not "signed in" to Xanga or use the Internet Island account, "baldmike2004" loads, then gives me a "Internet Explorer cannot open the site at www.xanga.com/baldmike2004. " I haven't tried my Firefox browser yet. Usually this is caused by a bad plugin of some sort, but I've never experienced it on Xanga at any time. HALP.
You know, I can't find ANY good in this predicament.
EDIT: 8-2-08 8:28a.m. pdt. The Bad: Well, this morning I still couldn't access my blog from it's "public view" feed, meaning it is difficult to read comments on my own site. I got around it and could read comments because when I click the comment from the Universal Inbox, the "baldmike2004" comment page comes up with that comment on the top of the page. The "Internet Explorer cannot open the page:" box comes up next, but it's in the center of the page, so I can usually read the comment. I have to repeat this step for each comment. A few hours later, I had an epiphany that the problem must be caused by the "Fishcan Tracker" code in my Xanga because I've encountered the "IE6 cannot open the site" popup on the Fishcan site too. So I went back on Xanga and now I can read my page without having to tweak anything. That's pretty good. I have a suspicion that it's the Fishcan code which was screwy. They have a lot of popups and ads on their site which sometimes mess with my browser, so maybe some of it "leaked" through to my blog through the ghost in the machine.
The Good: I seem to have added a lot more "The Bads" than "The Goods" so I'll add another good, and the bad that goes with it. I'm really going strong with my preparation for my new roommate. It's only the 2nd, and I've almost got Mike's bedroom completely emptied and vacuumed. I'm the kind of guy who leaves an apartment as much like I found it when I moved in, and I'm making this place BETTER than when I moved in, and I've been here almost 15 years. Joel's entertainment center is going to double as a storage cabinet for my vinyl records. I took down some shelving in his room that will look nice in the "unfinished" space where a bridge was going to connect the twin curio cabinets on either side of my bed in the photo above. (That's not a stain on my bed, but discoloration between the different photos I stitched together to get the incredibly wide angle view.) The shelving fits perfectly. Since Joel's bedroom is now almost ready for steam cleaning the carpet, I might just let the cats go this weekend sometime and start the steam cleaning this weekend instead of next. I want to have the carpet completely clean in any area I'm putting furniture while redecorating, and I'm ready to move furniture around in the living room right now! I'll be doing the "final vacuum" in there in a few hours. Cats beware. If you foul any area I'm finessing, you're getting the boot sooner than later! (I'm really conflicted about these cats. I hate them and I love them, ya know.) MFN/ppf
Comments (95)
Dear Mike: Here's hoping the good gets better, and there will be no worse! Hope you're doing ok after the loss of your close friend Joel.
Good news about a roommate! Mike & Mike... Sorry about the rent increase though. Good things and bad things... they always seem to go together, and, if you're lucky, balance themselves out. :sunny:
Aw, Mike, I'm so sorry you're dealing with ANYthing bad just now, haven't you been through enough....
Wish I knew how to help with the xanga thing but I don't know much about computers except what I know about computers, which is how to turn them off and on, how to bookmark the things I like to read, how to write on the things I like to read on the places I bookmarked, and how to cut and paste. And that's about it.
Sending you good thoughts, though, and much love. Really!
Mike, I bring up this page just fine. I know one time I was having trouble with someone else's site and I used firefox and could only view it in Internet Explorer. Weird. Good luck.
It sounds like some good things are coming out of a bad thing(Joel's passing) and I hope the new roomie works out for you.
Sorry about the cats, I am not a cat lover, but I am a pet lover. I really hate the smell of cat pee though. ah! LOL
Good luck with all the internet stuff and I have a TV similar in my basement that doesn't work. Maybe I should put it on Craigs List for free.....hmmm..........it's VERY heavy!
At least you can still see both sides Mike!
No wonder I've seen less comments from you...I hate software glitches lol
Good luck with the new roommate
Dear Mike,
I can imagine this transition is difficult for you. No matter what - Joel was "family". And going through things is never easy. I'm glad you've found a roommate. I hope things will go well for you in that area. It must be difficult to try to keep finding the good in a bad situation - and after having gone through so much... I'm glad your able to do that. And I'm glad it will be an adoption service for the cats. Take care of yourself.
peace,
Jane
Let's hope you get to the point where the good far outways the bad. lol Sounds like you are getting everything all straightened out. Good luck with the cats. Know how you feel there and it is hard.
Hugs
Kat
It sounds like you are really keeping busy cleaning out Joel's things and getting ready for another Mike. Sorry about your kitties, but we had the same problem with a couple of our cats, and they had to go. Ken never liked cats in the house anyway. Growing up on a farm, he felt they belonged in the barn----only we had no barn here! lol Now we cannot have any pets here, and Ken is happy.
Several of us here on Xanga had the same problem last nite and this morning. I went to their troubleshooting area, and ended up taking everything off of my left module. Then it worked just fine. Will put things back on one by one, and see what happens.
surfed in from some mutual commentees -
may your goods get better, and your bads . . . get better too! 
:sunny::spinning::laugh:
Mike,
You've written about the good and the bad, at least it hasn't gotten ugly.
Life is a grand adventure
I'm glad to hear you get to stay in your home. I hope the new roommate works out well.
Heya,
Hope all goes well, and that the cats find loving homes. :goodjob:
You were probably not alone in the xanga problem. I attributed it to their server, finally. No...I am not addicted!
Good luck in getting the house ready!
What, no ugly? The cats need to go, you don't need the upkeep of them ~ start fresh in the house of Mike and Mike! There are lots of places that will help find homes for them; perhaps a senior will gain conpanionship with them.
Dear Mike, just stopping by super quick while I have this moment to thank you so much for all your kind words. It is appreciated more than I can express.
I'm so sorry about your hip replacement that you will be having to have soon. I hope it goes well. ((HUGS))
That's great you were able to find a new rommate. I hope everything goes great with him. Again, I'm so sorry about Joel.
(((Love You))) 
P.S. I've been meaning to tell you that's a beautiful and creative banner you did up there. You really do make beautiful graphics, Mike.
Good luck with the rest of the preparations for your new roommate!!!
:wave: Mike, sorry to read that you're having probs. accessing your public site. That's a bummer. Hope someone on Xanga or a "Xangatech" can help you with that. As slow as my computer is, I can access your site OK, though it may take awhile.
For some reason, time wise, I got behind in visiting subs' sites during past week, so I'm playing "catch-up."
Cats: I love 'em. Would love to have just one, but too expensive in apt. and also not enough room -- although they don't need much, still -- gotta have someplace for the kitty potty. There are places in my area specifically for taking in cats and adopting them out. A very good friend volunteers for such an organization. She's got 6 adopted cat "roomies" in her condo. Each one has its own personality.
I've sold a few items I needed to get rid of on Craigs List. I may start advertising another one for a friend. For items you just want to get rid of without selling, but don't want to throw out, there's http://www.freecycle.com.
Good luck with new roommate! Hope all works out well for you both.
~~Blessings 'n cheers
Just read your last several posts -- I'm sorry to read about Joel -- but glad that you seem to be moving on and finding a new roommate to share the home you are in. Take good care of yourself!
I hope and pray that things do sort out soon, and to be honest, if I was there I would have taken the cats off your hands, but *sigh*
Hang in there, dear
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