Hancock Shaker village in spring

Here are some of the best pictures from a trip to a Shaker village in Hancock, MA this past spring. Brenda may not appreciate the one with her and the twins just chilling out, but it's actually one of my favorites. Just check out the twins' expressions and how Claire (wasn't Bridget in red sox that day?) looks like she's about to take a plunge into the grass!! I should crop that down to just her and make sure it gets in her senior yearbook (evil Uncle Stephen).

Now that mom & dad live just out of earshot from Brenda & Richard's house, I should get more pictures than the twice a year or so I do now. Parents, I've observed, don't always have time for photos, but relatives (and particularly grandparents) always do.

Now, if I can just get mom to use her digital camera. (Mom, this is the perfect opportunity for you to try out commenting on a blog to defend yourself!)

Happy November, everyone.   I love this month!

Audrey in the spring	A precious moment
Getting ready to go	Candidly caught
Checking out the vines	I want my mommy!
Bridget/Claire(?)	This one took 12 shots to get

Disney pictures and the demise of my career at IBM

Not long ago, this blog was created by an IBM employee with foresight and ingenuity to prove to his colleagues that blogging could significantly improve the experience of the entire staff of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) who were being dragged (some screaming...little kicking) into using a new database system to keep track of their students.

The idea was that each group on the IBM team (training, field support, data conversion, technical support, project management, and communications) would create a blog that would be one link away from our home page (http://dcstars.k12.dc.us:50825--designed and created by said IBM employee).

These blogs could be kept up-to-date by their owners, rather than having said IBM employee manage the entire website for them. They could post short articles, longer "how to" documents, training materials, or anything else they wanted.

Alas, no one saw the light, and so this weary IBM visionary went and asked Plumtree Software (www.plumtree.com) if they needed someone with ideas who can occasionally fix computers by just entering the room. After my second interview on Thursday, October 28, I think they've decided they do need a person like that. I hope to hear this week their official offer.

All of this is just a prelude to why you are most likely here...pictures from the recent Lord-Lyle adventure travel to the Magical World of Disney. Yes, this whole Plumtree experience, although the most exciting thing to happen since this trip, mostly pales by comparison to the four days I spent in Orlando with Brenda, Richard, Audrey, Bridget and Claire, and the matriarchs and patriarchs of the Lord and Lyle family. Thanks to Paula and Dick Lord (half of the aforementioned matriarchs and patriarchs), we had a lovely place to stay with beds for everyone and pools of many sizes for swimming.

So, without further ado, click on the thumbnail pictures below to see larger versions of the best of my shots from the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, MGM Studios, and the Epcot Center.

Pictures from Disney, September 2004

Creative CSS for Form Inputs

I saw this little piece of code today and thought I'd share it with the world (or at least the tiny fraction of it who will read this. It makes input boxes look a little more interesting than the usual inset bevel.

Name:

Address:

Shoe size:

---

CSS code:

.formInput
{
  background: #f5f5f5;
  color: #000000;
  border-top-style: none;
  border-bottom: #999999 1px dashed;
  border-right-style: none;
  border-left-style: none;
}