The passing of my father

My father, the man who raised me, taught me, and introduced me to so many wonderful things - hiking, philosophy, poetry, gaming, carving, and painting, amongst many other vocations - passed away. Such times as these when I've lost a close friend and cherished mentor, before, have caused me to think of e.e. cummings' poem 'Buffalo Bill'...

Buffalo Bill's
defunct
who used to
ride a watersmooth-silver
stallion
and break onetwothreefourfive pigeons justlikethat
Jesus
he was a handsome man
and what I want to know is
how do you like your blue-eyed boy
Mister Death

I got me some Google Juice

The G.I. Joe DVDs were awesome, but hey dig this!

I got me a Google Voice account, and Google also just mailed me a laminated set of directions for GMail (Become a GMail Ninja). I don't know how I got on the Golden Ticket list, but daaang! I feel the love, Skynet. I feel the love.

If you haven't seen the GMail Ninja thing, check out the link. Didn't know I was already about 80% there to being a GMail Ninja, but the list of tips and tricks helped me close the gap.

But the serious Google Juice is in the Google Voice account. The ability to send texts from my browser, have a phone number that rings all the numbers I want it to ring throughout the day (my work phone during work hours, my cell while I'm at lunch, etc.), the ability to have some contacts ring to certain phones and others to other lines, the ability to set up customized voicemails (have all the folks in my gaming group always get a voicemail message that states the dates of the next 3 games, but have the work folks get a brief "leave a message"), and the list goes on...

So cool. Thank you Willy Wonka! I will keep drinking the google kool aid; just keep the loot coming! :)