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I don’t have the attention span for games that are hard to learn, like The Sims. I don’t have any interest in fighting or shoot-em-up games like World of Warcraft or other battle games.

I like simple puzzle games that you don’t have to be too smart to play.

Radmila had a link to a new game on her site, which inspired me to share.

So here are my favorite games.

• Marbles (free, no registration required)
• Griddlers (free registration, then click on “puzzles” after you log in)
• Sudoku (free registration required - I also love Super Collapse on this site too)
• Sherlock - Now this has free demo download to try, but I’ve been addicted to it since like 1996 or something.  It’s old school in look but I love it.  In fact I bought it once, lost it in a computer crash, then bought it again.  And I’m too cheap to buy things usually.

I used to LOVE getting drunk in front of my computer and playing an interactive game with an online friend at one of the free gaming sites for multiple players.  I liked playing yahtzee, hearts, othello, or monopoly.  I’d play scrabble too but I’d suck at it.

Alas, no more online friends that like to play games like that with me on Friday nights.

Where Are The Dogs Humping.com

Oh Drew! You slay me every time.

Aaah, this is the life! (Click for bigger images)

Setting up a home office is a lot of work, especially when:

• You moved two years of documentation home from the office and have to go through it all
• You’re starting a brand new job, which constitutes coming up with a whole new organization system, quickly.
• The stupid goddamn printer/copier/scanner you ordered quit working 24 hours out of the box (never buy a Kodak printer!)
• You forgot to buy a 3-ring hole puncher, and your preferred organization method is binders.
• The new office chair you bought isn’t as comfortable as you thought
• You have a 175 pound dog who won’t leave your side while you’re trying to put things together

Here’s what my corner of my upstairs loft looks like so far.

My home computer is in the cabinet in the desk, below the drawer you see on the right.  My work computer is a laptop in a docking station.  I don’t like how high the docking station makes my monitor, but not much I can do with such a small work area.  On the right is a cedar chest where I put my work printer (that doesn’t work).  My home printer is on top of the desk area until I can get a longer printer cord.

I use a KVM cable to switch between my work and home computer, so that I can use the same monitor/mouse/keyboard for both.  It took me forever to find one with USB ports - I finally had to mail order to get one!  I would think it would be a common need.  Anyone have a better solution?

Off to the side, a broken printer, a filing cabinet.  The TV armoire is on the far left, but I hardly ever use that TV.  It’s tiny!  Watching TV in the day is NOT a temptation either.

Directly to the right of my desk is a linen closet.  I’ve turned it into a work annex.  This is what you see when you look into the door…

And this is what is around the corner in the closet.  I need to buy one of those stick-up battery operated lights or something.

And there you have it!  My home workspace.

If you post yours, leave a comment and a link to the post.

Sparky (the puppy I got my parents for Christmas) is one year old this week!

My nephew Nathan’s birthday (his 8th!) was last weekend.

My parents threw a joint birthday party for both Nathan and Sparky.

They even got an ice cream cake! (I don’t think Sparky got any.)

Grandpa helped them cut it.

The boys had a BLAST! My parents gave them each money to buy a present for Sparky. They shopped very carefully and bought him some new plush toys. They had a great time helping Sparky open his presents.

Here’s Alex helping Sparky play with the stuffed gorilla, Sparky’s favorite. Also, the gorilla is the mascot for the college that everyone in my family went to (except me), Pittsburg State.

Sparky would bark and scratch at the bedroom doors in the morning because he couldn’t wait to play with the nephews. So my mom would bring Sparky downstairs every morning and put up a baby gate. Sparky would just have to wait for the boys to get up. So Mom says he was glued to the bottom of the stairs until the boys did just that. Then it was playtime all day.

Are we going to have tons of Sparky pics now! All three nephews (Alex 10, Nathan 8, Jacob 6 this fall) visited my parents for a week. “Sparky’s paws never touched the floor,” my mother reports.

Here’s Sparky and Alex:

Here’s Sparky and Nathan:

Jacob and Sparky:

All three (the ol’ bunny ears trick):

Stay tuned for more photos!

New office phone hooked up:  8 am

First telemarketer call:  9:15 am

Registered on donotcall.gov :  9:17 am