Early this morning, the power failed at the Pike House, where the server hosting this web site is located. Unfortunately, the UPS held out for only ten minutes before the strain of two power-hungry computers spinning a total of eight drives proved too much. If I had the box set up correctly, it would have automatically restarted when the power came back. Needless to say, I did not have it configured properly. Fortunately, Kiefer was at the house. He was able to gain access to the server and push the ‘on’ button, for which I am grateful. Had he not been around, Keacher.com would have been down until at least Saturday. Disaster averted. (whew!)

Several of my Minnesota friends suggested some additions to my list from yesterday. One suggested learning to fly airplanes. Yup, that should be on there. The other suggested cow tipping. I’m not sure about that one. It’s right up there with hypnotizing chickens (a pastime I first learned about at Philmont). While I sort out this moral dilemma, amuse yourselves with virtual cow tipping.

I was reading the Star Tribune today when I came across the Back Fence. Aside from a rant about the merits of disinfectant wipes, the column mentioned the correct pronunciation of “err.” Apparently, “err” is pronounced like the ‘ur’ in ‘murder,’ not like ‘air.’ But that raises the question: does anybody say ‘err’ like ‘urr?’ Does anybody really care? As long as society begins pronouncing Porsche with two syllables (say ‘PORSH-ah’), I’ll be happy.

There are only a few hours to go before 2003 is here. I look back at New Years 2000 and laugh at how naïve we all were. On December 31, 1999, I gathered with about twenty of my friends around a campfire, playing with fireworks and singing along to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. We all were fairly certain that the change would progress smoothly, but I think every one of us had a bit of fear that some long-forgotten critical component would go haywire and bring about a technological apocalypse. The clock struck midnight, at which time we whipped out our cell phones to check on the outside world. After contacting numerous friends at various telecommunications hotspots, we decided that life would indeed go on much as it had the previous day. To be honest, there was a part of me that was a bit disappointed by the anticlimax. After all of the buildup and all of the hype, absolutely nothing happened. Nothing at all. Zip, zero, zilch. Nada. I quickly got over it when I realized that the Simpsons would be a likely casualty to any computer mayhem.

In yet another completely unrelated topic, fairly reliable sources indicate that the complete third season of the Simpsons will be released in May, 2003. Woohoo!

Now I’m off to ring in the new year with old friends. To 2002, I bid thee adieu!