Wood
"The new MANDAL bedroom series is made of solid wood, a natural material that is durable."
No kidding.
(from the 2008 IKEA catalog, page 127)
August 16, 2007
March 1, 2007
Google's watching you
Check out this satellite image from Google Maps. Not sure how long it's been since my dad sold that red truck, but it's been a couple of years.
June 8, 2006
iPod better than Beer
Who'd have thunk it. College students surveyed think that iPods are better than beer. This has only happened one other time, in 1997 when the internet displaced beer. Click here for the full article. Wonder how iPods would rank if sex was on the survey.
January 26, 2006
Don't annoy anonymously
From an article at news.com:
Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.So, you're welcome to try and annoy me. That's a first amendment right, after all. However, if your intent is to annoy, then you must now disclose your identity. Otherwise, I can get you tossed in jail and/or fined.
It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity. Click to read the full article.
Of course, if you post your annoying message anonymously, then I'm not entirely sure how you'll get prosecuted, since by definition I won't know who you are. Perhaps I can get the government to also wiretap my web site (court order not necessary) so that in the event that someone does this nefarious act of annoyance, then the guys with the badges will be able to catch the evil-doers.
On the other hand, I might be liable as well. After all, you might find this site annoying and it's possible that I'm not REALLY someone named Chris. I could be a woman from South Dakota named Ingrid. If that's true, then the feds might be after me right now. The good news is that I'm not in South Dakota and my name's not Ingrid. Just checked - not a woman either. (I could be lying about all of this) (are you annoyed yet) (do you think I should be in jail?)
Only in America. Item # 3,793,838 on the list of why the rest of the world thinks we're nuts.
Feel free to make a comment. However, if it's annoying, please leave your true identity. Don't want anyone to get hurt.
January 20, 2006
More on Failure
A while back, I posted that you can enter the word failure into the google search and the top, most relevent, result is the bio page of President Bush on the official White House web site.
Today, I ran across this article describing how failure gets linked to President Bush on the Google search.
Wonder how long it'll take the conservatives to link "flip flopper" to John Kerry's bio page.
November 3, 2005
For Fun
1. Go to Google.
2. Type in
Failure3. Click the I'm Feeling Lucky button
Note: I got this from a hardcore Republican friend of mine.
August 20, 2005
Home from Idaho
Had a good week with the fam-damn-ily this week in various parts of Idaho. It started last Saturday with a family reunion of sorts to celebrate my Grandmother's birthday. Many of the extended family came to Boise for a picnic at the park, then cake & ice cream on Sunday. We had a lot of fun hanging out with all of the cousins I haven't seen in a couple of years (at least). My aunt Kathy did a fabulous job organizing the party and making sure there was enough food for everyone. Also, Scott, Grace and I went to a water park near Boise on Sunday afternoon and had a blast, even met up with the Reno contingent of the family while we were there. I also sunburned the living hell out of my shoulders - turns out that the "waterproof" sunscreen I had wasn't really all that waterproof.
February 20, 2005
Return to sender
Today was my day to return things.
My first stop was Best Buy, where I returned the phones we bought there a year and a half ago. At the time, I bought the extended service plan (out of character for me as these things are usually ripoffs). I know that I purchased the extended service plan because a couple of weeks ago, I found the reciept and the warranty thingie in one of our piles of stuff lying about the house. Of course, when I went to find said reciept, etc., it was nowhere to be found. We eventually found it in a file labeled "2005 - To Be Filed". So I took the phones back to Best Buy, and they gave me credit in the same amount as the original purchase. Enough so that I was able to replace our phones, buy another service plan, and still had an $9 credit that I got on a gift card. Woo Woo!
Next stop was Sears, where I wanted to return some pants that I bought in August that developed a hole in them. Normally, I'd just say "whatever", but I happened to find the receipt for the pants while looking for the phone reciept. Figured it was worth a try, especially since the back of the reciept said that Sears would take items after a "reasonable" amount of time for return. The manager told me that they've since changed their policy to 90 days, and let me exchange my pants. The ones I got were $10 less than the originals, so I walked out of Sears with a new pair of pants and a ten dollar bill. Yay for me!
Lastly, I returned some shoes that we'd purchased for Damon that were too small for him. No luck finding a pair that fit. I guess 2 out of 3 isn't bad.
September 20, 2004
Want a GMail account?
GMail is a free, web-based email system (competitors include hotmail and yahoo mail) that gives you 1 GB of storage (that's 1024 MB for the binary challenged folks out there). Right now it's still in beta and is invitation only. They keep giving me invitations to give away, so I'm passing those on to you, my valued readers. Read more about GMail here.
If you'd like one, email me (you should know my address already) and tell me you want one. I'll send the invites to the first six people that email me and that I feel like giving them to.
July 26, 2004
Homeward Bound
So I'm leaving the STARBRIGHT Foundation after two and a half years as an employee. It's been a very interesting ride with some very gratifying moments as well as some very disappointing times. Work on the STARBRIGHT World project has consumed the last four years of my life and I'm very proud of where that project is today, especially compared to when I first became involved with it.
I have accepted a project management role at a local company (emphasis on local) and am re-entering the for-profit world. The company that I will be working for is close to home and offers some challenging and exciting work with people that I respect. I start two weeks from today on August 9.
July 21, 2004
This Land
I just watched the animated short "This Land" by the guys over at JibJab which pokes fun at both Kerry and Bush. Definitely worth watching if you have a few minutes. Their servers have been slammed since their appearance on the Today show, so be patient if you can't watch it right away.
As my boy Cartman would say....
KickAss!!
(In the Cartman world, Kick Ass is all one word, similar to the redneck "SumBitch")
July 12, 2004
Tippacanoe and sailboats too
I was talking with my brother Scott last night and we somehow stumbled into talking about my father's adventures in sailing.
The one that's my all-time favorite happened when I was a junior or senior in high school and involved a canoe, a bunch of lumber and a Navy hat.
Redneck Comedy
Last night I watched the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" show on Comedy Central. Very funny. Damon was trying to go to sleep in my arms and I kept waking him up cause I was laughing so hard.
May 19, 2004
Internet time machine
I discovered a way cool web site today. It's called the Way Back Machine and it's a web archive of every web site and what those sites looked like over the last ten years or so they seem to have been tracking.
They have my old chenry.com as well as every other site i've looked for.
May 14, 2004
She Bangs Tivo
I've got two things for tonight.
First off, if you're thinking about having a kid, one must-have piece of gear is a Tivo or some other digital video recorder. You see, when you're trying to watch your favorite one hour drama, you're gonna get interrupted three or more times within that hour and being able to pause the show while you change a diaper, make a bottle, or just wait out the crying is VERY nice. Additionally, since you're almost never near a television when your favorite drama is actually on television, it's super nice to have it waiting for you when you DO have time, such as during the 4am feeding. So, when you're making your baby registry, you'll need a crib, diapers, clothes, rocking chair, changing table, and a Tivo.
Next, I got an instant message from Heather tonight:
"while innocently looking at photos of your new son, i accidently stumbled upon David Hasselhoff's music video. where did you find this and why would you do this to me?"
Well Heather, while I admit that I'm partially to blame for you being damaged by this horrific piece crap masquerading as music, you also must accept some responsibility as well. After all, you didn't actually have to watch it did you? However, our mutual culpability aside, the lion's share of the blame lies with the dumbasses who actually created this abomination.
As bad as Knight Rider's music video is, though, nothing compares to the damage you'll receive by listening and/or watching William Hung's She Bangs video. I made the mistake of watching it and had that stupid song (in his lame voice) stuck in my head for almost a week. I warned you.
April 15, 2004
AOL... Just say NO!
There's a new web site that's been created for recycling the tons (literally) of AOL CD's that are sent every year. According to AOL, only 1 in 20 ever actually get used. These guys are collecting one million AOL CDs and are going to take them to AOL's headquarters in Virginia.
Check them out at http://www.nomoreaolcds.com
March 30, 2004
Student Athelete
I read an article in the LA Times today about Emeka Okafor, who is a star on the University of Connecticut's NCAA basketball team. I was struck in the article about how academics played more than a passing role in his life and was encouraged by it.
Makes me glad I picked U. Conn to win the NCAA tournament. Go Huskies!
March 29, 2004
Bush tax plan? Everyone's taxes got cut?
So I'm doing my taxes tonight using Turbo Tax, and get to a screen that shows a summary of the income tax brackets for 2003 compared to 2002. I started reflecting on what I recall this administration saying about their tax cuts. Things like, "helps all Americans", "not just for the rich", etc.
So, the folks that have incomes in the middle of the chart did receive a tax cut. However, the two lowest tax brackets, probably the people that need the most relief from taxes received no tax cut. But wait, there's more. The topmost income bracket received almost twice the tax cut that anyone else got.
I'm no economist or tax strategist or anything like that, and if it wasn't for Turbo Tax, I'd probably still be doing my taxes from 1996, but it seems to me like the folks that got the biggest tax cut are the wealthiest people in the country. I believe that wealthy people should pay taxes and I believe that if everyone else gets a tax cut that wealthy people should get some too. However, I don't think it's a good thing to give tax cuts to EVERYONE but the people who make the least amount of money.
The crazy part is that a tax cut to low income taxpayers is inexpensive compared to cuts in higher tax brackets. So, it seems to me like our friend in the white house could have knocked a few percentage points off the lower income brackets for not too much money and told the democrats to suck wind because he would have given everyone a tax break. Nope, that's not what happened. Now I'm a democrat too.
I think we need fiscally conservative policies in our president and we're sure as hell not getting them from the one we've got.
Here's a screen shot from Turbo Tax, just so you can see what I'm seeing. (the rates are for married people filing jointly)
To use a Chris-ism, you do the math and let me know what you come up with.
March 22, 2004
From Bad to Worse
David Hasselhoff, best known from Baywatch and Knight Rider, recently released this stunning music video (you gotta hit the play button once you get to the site).
That's some fine work. Nice job David.
October 18, 2003
New Driveway!
Well, we finally succeeded in getting our old asphalt driveway out and replaced with a concrete driveway. They finsihed this afternoon and it looks great. Check out the photos.
September 24, 2003
MoonPies
Got an email out of the blue tonight from an old teaching buddy from when I worked at QuickStart. He's originally from the South and at one point we had a long conversation about MoonPies. Primarily it started something like:
David: "There's nothing better than a MoonPie."
Chris: "What's a MoonPie?"
Karen (David's lovely wife): You've never heard of a MoonPie? You've not lived until you've eaten a MoonPie!" (Be sure to do David and Karen's voices in a Southern drawl)
and so on, and was eventually followed up by a box of MoonPies showing up in my mailbox.
Anyway, apparently David ran across an article about Moon Pies today, so he sent it to me, and I'm sharing it with you: The Heavenly Appeal of MoonPies.
If you happen to need an outstanding trainer on any Microsoft server technology, be sure to look up David Gibbs. He's better than an RC Cola and a MoonPie.
September 22, 2003
I Can Blow My Nose!!!
The ability to blow one's nose seems like it should be an inalienable right set forth in the constitution, but it turns out that it's not. It's also one of those things that you don't really miss until you can't do it and are spending inordinate amounts of time wiping ooze from your nostrils.
So, I went and saw the doctor this morning and he's cleared me to blow my nose. I'm so happy. He also said that my nose is healing nicely.
Now all I need is my G5.
September 18, 2003
Would've been funny
So, a coworker of mine sent out an email to the people I work with yesterday telling them all that I was alive and well after my surgery. I thought (and still do) that it would've been tremendously funny to use this photo instead of the one of me looking like a pissed off hitler who just had his mustache forceably removed.
Her repsonse was: "you are so on drugs. there is nothing funny about this. only weird. you freak."
Here's the photo:
I stand by my previous, anestesia induced judgement that i would've indeed be funny to send that out to everyone.
However, in her defense, the note she did send out with the photo of me was funny:
From: Dana J. Robinson
Subject: chris henry is sooo nosey
Just thought I'd report to everyone that Chris is alive and well after his Hollywood nose job and will be actively pursuing freelance work as a nostril model just as soon as the swelling subsides. If you know of any nasal spray companies looking for active nostril models, keep Chris and his handsome new schnoz in mind. However, please direct any such requests to me while Chris convalesces in peace.
Anyway, that's all for now.
September 17, 2003
Post Nose Job
Well, thing seem to have gone well this morning. I went to sleep in one place and woke in another. They had to stick me a couple of times to get the IV in right, but that's about the worst part.
Coming out of general anestesia is an interesting experience. My throat was SUPER dry and scratchy and is still raw. Right now I can't really talk, which is something of a novelty that I'm sure those around me will enjoy and take advantage of.
Here's a self-photo that I just took so the world can see that I've not got my nose in a sling. I've had my ass in a sling pretty often, but it's a first for my nose.
I think I'm going to go sleep some more now.
Nose Job
So tomorrow (or rather - later today) I'm going in to get a repair on the deviated septum in my nose. This little guy has basically blocked one side of my nose about 90% and essentially turned me in to a mouthbreather. Nobody wants to be a mouthbreather. Turns out that I might be able to smell things too.
September 16, 2003
New & Improved Site
Out with the old. The old site was very 1998 with the frontpage themes and all. The new site is based on a software called MoveableType which is classified as a blogging software, but is really a content management system.
I'm excited about the new site and hope to bring some cool features to it as time goes by.