THE TIMEKEEPER CHRONICLES

Here's another little Happy Cookers Group dessert recipe. Looks very tasty.


Southern Banana Pudding

1 package (4-serving size) Jello Vanilla or Banana Cream Flavor Cook & ServePudding & Pie Filling (not instant)
2-1/2 cups milk
2 egg yolks, well beaten
30 to 35 vanilla wafers
2 large bananas, sliced
2 egg whites
Dash of salt
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.STIR pudding mix into milk in medium saucepan.Add egg yolks. Stirring constantly, cook on mediumheat until mixture comes to full boil. Remove from heat.ARRANGE layer of cookies on bottom and up side of 1-1/2 quart baking dish.Add layer of banana slices; top with 1/3 of the pudding. Repeat layers twice, ending with pudding.BEAT egg whites and salt in medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed until foamy.Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Spoon meringue mixture lightly ontopudding, spreading to edge of dish to seal.BAKE 10 to 15 minutes or until meringue is lightly browned. Serve warn or refrigerateuntil ready to serve.

Makes 8 servings

Dang. The year might as well be over with by now since I haven't posted in a while!! I've been working a bunch of o.t. here lately and I just haven't had any time to relax. But, even though I'm on day shift this week, I thought I'd try to get in here and at least let ya'll know we are still alive and well.



Mik is sick this week (sounds like a touch of the flu) and Susan has had the computers all tied up. She is on the yearbook committee for the school. (I don't remember getting a yearbook in elementary school???) Jeremy is has decided NOT to go to the PCC high school (he was going to but bailed out last minute). So he's still at Mulberry, and as long as he's getting good grades, that's all we care about.



OK, enough babbling. Talk to ya'll later. Here's a few pics from the recent holidays. :-)

CYA

It's really hard to believe a whole year has already past. We hope everyone had a good 2006, and really look forward to a healthy and happy 2007!

I have really been busy working a bunch of O.T. here lately, so I haven't been able to update with new pics. I will be back on this soon, so thank you to those who stop by, and keep checking back when you can.

Happy New Year!!!!
The Millers

The Miller's wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Here's an article I found rather interesting, posted on Yahoo!Tech page.

By Christopher Null, Yahoo!Tech writer

Get Better Portraits by Turning Your Camera Upside Down?

File under oddity: Website Digital Camera University says that you can take better portraits (that is, pictures of people's faces) if you turn your digital camera upside down.
Why? It has to do with the location of the flash: Since it's mounted above the lens it creates slight shadows by the way the light bounces off the lines on your subject's face, which makes wrinkles and blemishes look more noticeable than they should. By turning the camera upside down, the light (now coming from beneath the lens) hits the face at a slightly different angle, creating a slightly different image. That's the theory, anyway.
Looking at the close-up on the site's sample images you can indeed see the difference the writer is talking about if you look at the lines around the model's eyes fairly closely. But I tried it myself to make sure this wasn't a hoax. When shooting an adult face, it was very clear that the upside-down tip did indeed reduce the appearance of lines. The crease around the mouth was noticeably less visible in the upside-down shot I tried than in the regular portrait. However, there was one unintended side effect: The upside-down shot made her face look much redder than it should have, for reasons I can't explain.
I also tried the trick on my four-year-old daughter, but since she is not yet jaded and beaten down by the cruel world, she doesn't have facial lines. I couldn't tell the difference between the side-by-side shots of her.
As the linked site itself notes, the effect is subtle and difficult to see, but it does exist. Is it something I'll do regularly? Probably not, unless repeated portraits keep turning out badly. But it's a neat little party trick that you ought to try at least once when snapping a shot of grandma.

Don't know if this will work, but I'll try anything if it makes 'some' folks look better (no, I'm not pointing anyone out)

Wizards In Winter - Trans-Siberian OrchestraThis ought to get you in the mood for Christmas!!! (no, this is NOT my house, though it would be neat if it was:-) )

Christmas Lights synchronized to "Wizards in Winter" by The Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Ok, not really, but I thought it was funny :-)

Here's a recent article from the Happy Cookers Group about women and grilling. This actually sounds like a great way to cook, though I'll just use the grill since Susan would probably burn the house down. :-)

Women take to grilling

You'd think women would embrace their freedom from cooking once they've introduced their men to the grill.Not so.The number of outdoor female grillers is up 20 percent from just a few years ago, according to the 2005 Weber GrillWatch Survey conducted for Weber-Stephens Products Co. in Palatine, Ill.Women are hot for the heat for several reasons said Karen Adler, co-author of "The BBQ Queens' Big Book of Barbecue."Women who have their own apartments enjoy entertaining, and grilling is part of that. And if they were brought up on a Foreman grill, they know the pleasures of a crust-coated burger.What are women preparing?Food grilled on wood, said Adler, who runs an online barbecue business in Mission, Kan. "Planking is one of the hottest new trends," she added.Purchase a fancy grilling plank at specialty stores. Or make your own.Any clean, 1-inch thick piece of untreated wood will work; cedar, oak, cherry and apple are popular choices. Soak the wood plank in water for at least an hour, so the plank will withstand the heat of the grill without burning.Most any food you grill can be prepared on a plank: fish, chicken, small roasts. Cuts of meat that require quick, high heat, such as steaks and chops, are better off on the metal grill.One of Adler's favorite "planked" recipes for the holidays is Brie with cranberry chutney. Just place a wheel of Brie cheese on a wooden grill plank. Place the plank on the grill's grid over low heat just until the cheese begins to melt. Top with cranberry chutney and arrange crackers on the side.

Every year the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando presents an "Ice Exhibit" featuring carved ice "art". I have to say it was quite interesting and not to mention..COLD! They keep this area 9 degrees F. BRRRRRR. Here's some pics.

Here's a little slideshow of pics from Mikayla's Birthday Party. It's hard to believe she's 12 now...where does the time go!

Jeremy cruising the strip. (Everyone out there driving around need to watch out for this guy :-0)

Here's a couple of pics of our Christmas tree and Christmas lights on the house. I wanted to show them now before half the lights blow out. I spent 2 whole day's last week just putting these darn things up. (I know, I know, you folks are SOOOO impressed)

Ba humbug.

Once again, WOOT.COM is doing a WOOT-OFF! Better check it out, you might miss something nice, you know, Christmas gifts for me....

http://www.woot.com

And, here's a couple of nice auto-refresher's specifically for wootoffs. This is a good way not to miss anything.

http://www.oddpic.com/wootoff/index.html

http://smoothdesigners.com/woot/index.html

CYA

I came across this site the other day and found it to be quite interesting. This is a clock that a hand scribbles the number and erases it, then rewrites it as the time changes. Where do people come up with this stuff? Click the link belowand watch time go by...



http://beeks.eu/swf/handclock.swf

I just came off of night shift, and I'm sitting here vegitating in front of the computer trying to recover, so I thought I'd just post a few more pics. I mean geez, we have like thousands of them, so why not share, huh.


Our little corner of the world
Mikayla and friends
A funny pic I took with my cell phone camera of our cat Misty. Looks creepy.
Mik took the wheel while we were driving around the mountains. As you can see, I was quite frieghtened.
Me and Eric. (Sorry Deb, I just had to post this 'cause it's funny.)

Here's a few pics from our Turkey Day. I fried up a bird and it really came out great. I think it was a hit! Hope everyone had a great one.


Susan just wishing we'd went to Carrabas

Dad, me, and Mom

Dad and Great Granpa McNeight watching football

Susan telling her dad and Great Grammie McNeight "I told you the fried turkey was gonna be good!

Watching the Bucs lose in HD is not very fun...

Everyone have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!!!! (and don't eat too much!)

We had the pleasure of going to a Lightning game Friday night. We had a blast. Mikayla even got selected to ride on one of the Zamboni's....how 'bout that.

Each season, the Lightning and the St.Pete Times Forum set aside one game to promote "Tampa Bay Fights Cancer" with the Steve Yerrid Foundation. A great cause, and a great team. Of course, our favorite player is Brad Richards. We've met him personally and he is a genuin, down to earth guy, an awesome athlete and has a passion for helping kids with childhood cancer. Kudos to the Lightning and Brad.... and oh, the B0lts beat the Devils in OT 3-2!

Ok, in an earlier post, I told you a little about Woot.com. Well, here they are today, having a WOOT-OFF! You've got to check it out.

Click here for an "Woot Auto-refresher" link. It automatically refreshes the Woot page so that you don't miss any Woots.

Rich

I've made a couple of little changes on the blog today. A while back, in order to leave a comment, I set it up to have folks sign-in on blogger to leave their comments. This was so that I could know who left the comment. But, after even more review (and my wife telling me it was a pain in the butt for someone to have to do this), I realize now that the effort to have someone go through the motions to 'sign-up' with blogger was a little excessive. Therefore, I have changed it back to where anyone can leave a comment, anonymous or not, without having to sign up. This wasn't meant to pick on anyone in particular (Brett)..oh, sorry. Anyway, my hopes were that anyone could leave a comment and enjoy the webpages. So, hopefully this will make it easier and please don't hesitate to tell me what you think about any post, or anything else for that matter. I'm still leaving the word recognition option there..and this is there to prevent spam comments. (Believe it or not, spam leaves comments...don't ask)

Thank you guys for visiting and I hope to hear from you soon
Rich

il collard la pizza verde (en. Collard Green Pizza) Fine Southern quisine, in an Italian kind of way. Southerners tend to make improvements in everything (hey, I married a New Englander...now look how nice she is!!!). Really though, it sounds pretty good..I think I'll try it.

Only in the South...Collard Green Pizza

No matter what kind of pizza your making, it will taste so much better if cooked using a grill, I like using a pizza stone;Only in the South...Collard Green Pizza1 (1-pound) store bought pizza dough (or use recipe below)

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup marinara sauce, plus 1/4 cup
1/2 cup cooked collard greens, drained
1 large ham hock, cooked and meat removed
4 slices bacon, cut into large pieces
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Stretch dough and press into an 8-inch pizza pan. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise and 1/2 cup marinara sauce. Coat the pizza dough with the mixture. Top with drained greens, ham hock meat, and bacon. Cover with cheese and remaining 1/4 cup marinara sauce. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Slice and serve warm.

It's Woot.com. These guys are funny as heck and they sell some nifty gadgets. I love gadgets. A one deal per day thing. And the shipping is always $5, no matter what. The real fun comes when they do a "Woot-Off" (every few months or so - it's a suprise, you never know). I've bought a few things from Woot and have found some pretty good deals. You have to read the item descriptions for each day's woot because they are hilarious. Even if you don't buy anything, it's still funny to read.

I saw this article on CNN today and thought it was interesting. It's hard to remember what our world was like before the internet (I think it was better sometimes :-) )

Notice the dudes name in the article from Netcraft. He must be one smart fella :-0

Web reaches new milestone: 100 million sites

POSTED: 2:32 p.m. EST, November 1, 2006

Story Highlights
• The Web now has 100 million sites
• There were 18,000 Web sites in August of 1995
• Web sites have become a way to bond and belong
By Marsha WaltonCNN

(CNN) -- Are your Web surfing fingers getting tired?
There may be a reason. Netcraft, an Internet monitoring company that has tracked Web growth since 1995, says a mammoth milestone was reached during the month of October.
"There are now 100 million Web sites with domain names and content on them," said Netcraft's Rich Miller.
"Within that, there are some that are busy and updated more often, and that represents the active sites, which are at about 47 or 48 million," he said.
Bloggers, small businesses, and simplicity have combined to create the dramatic growth of sites, much of it just in the past two years.
"The bottom line is it's much easier to create a Web site nowadays, and it's much easier to make money with a Web site," said Miller.
Netcraft uses the domain name system to identify Web sites, check how many of them are in a particular location, such as what operating system and Web server software they're running, and then publishes its information in a monthly report.
There were just 18,000 Web sites when Netcraft, based in Bath, England, began keeping track in August of 1995. It took until May of 2004 to reach the 50 million milestone; then only 30 more months to hit 100 million, late in the month of October 2006.
Netcraft says the United States, Germany, China, South Korea and Japan show the greatest Web site growing spurts.
Today there are seemingly endless Web sites for shopping, social networking, and, of course, sleaze.
But what was the subject of Web site number one in 1989?
"When the Web was started, it was started as a mechanism for sharing high energy particle physics data," said Professor Rebecca Grinter of Georgia Tech's College of Computing.
The creator of that Web site, Tim Berners-Lee, wanted experts to be able to share data on particle smashing, even if they weren't at CERN in Switzerland where he was doing research. CERN, in Geneva, is the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
Research facilities and universities soon started seeing benefits of this new tool for things as lofty as nuclear physics and as mundane as sharing restaurant recommendations.
Even today CERN proudly proclaims on its home page, "The world's largest particle physics laboratory, where the Web was born!"
It did not take long for this technological baby to flourish.
"As is true of many things, if you teach a lot of students how to do something, these students go somewhere, and around '96, lo and behold, you see this much more significant transition of the Internet," said Grinter.
Soon, a Web "explosion" took place when businesses realized they could use the Internet to make money.
"Web sites begin to be incorporated into advertising. So that just sort of raises the awareness of the general public," said Grinter.
And by the mid-'90s the cost of personal computers had fallen enough so that the Internet began entering peoples homes and schools as well as their workplaces.
The cost, and the complexity of creating Web sites have both diminished since the beginning of the 21st century.
Computer users no longer have to be experts in HTML, or hypertext markup language, to be masters of their own Web sites.
"There have been price wars going on in both the domain name and Web hosting industries for some time now, and as a result it's very affordable to create your own Web site, and the tools, the software being offered by these companies are much better," said Miller.
Blogs and social networking sites link family, friends and experts in just about everything.

Bond and belong
"What we've seen is people finding interesting new ways to use the Web to showcase their information and their expertise; particularly in niches in all kinds of subjects where it's really just opened the door to new uses of the Web," said Miller.
Whether it is sharing photographs on Flickr.com, showing off an amateur video on YouTube, or looking for a mate on Match.com, Web sites have also become a way to bond and belong.
"The history of humanity is the history of being part of a group, having a group mentality, and the Internet makes a whole other set of those groups possible," said Grinter. "And they don't have to be physically proximate to you, you can create content for people who are physically distant," she said.
So will a URL someday be as common as a birth name and a Social Security number?
For some celebrities, it already is. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt registered domains for all three of their children.
And in both the business world and the social scene, a Web site is now an identifier almost as common as a phone number or an e-mail address.
"The Web has gone from being a very straightforward thing where you put some text and perhaps some images, to being this incredibly powerful medium in and of itself. You can engage so much more dynamically, and so many more people are doing so many more things. And who knows what will come about tomorrow?" said Grinter.

Here's some pics from our camping trip we took back in June to North Beach. As usual, we had a great time. We spent most of our time enjoying the beach and taking it eeeeeasy.

Inside Man was a pretty good flick with a neat twist. Though I'm not a big fan of Spike Lee (director), this was an ok rent. It is rated R, so not recommended for the youngins.





Here's the Blockbuster.com reveiw:


Running Time:
2 hours 8 minutes



Complete Cast:
Denzel Washington - Detective Keith Frazier
Clive Owen - Dalton Russell
Jodie Foster - Madeline White
Christopher Plummer - Arthur Case
Willem Dafoe - Capt. John Darius
Chiwetel Ejiofor - Det. Bill Mitchell
Kim Director
Director(s):
Spike Lee
Producer(s):
Brian Grazer

Full Synopsis:
The volatile showdown between a determined cop and a perfectionist bank robber is sent spiraling toward disaster when a scheming power broker steps in to take control of the situation in this hair-raising heist flick directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster. Dalton Russell (Owen) is a bank robber with a difference. In his quest to execute the perfect heist, Dalton has taken every possible factor into consideration. Dalton's uncanny ability of staying one step ahead of the law thwarts even-tempered Detective Keith Frazier's (Washington) best efforts. But there's another factor at play. The bank president (Christopher Plummer) has requested the services of high-profile negotiator Madeline White (Foster). Despite her commendable track record, Madeline is something of a wild card, and before the day is over, this bank robbery will go down in history as one of the most elaborate heists ever executed. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Here's some random pics from earlier this year....

It seems as though the blogger is having some occasional issues doing page loads. If for some reason things look out of whack, please try again, or come back later and hopefully the page will load correctly. They have been doing some "routine maintenance" on the blogger lately, so maybe this has something to do with it.

In any case, please come back and visit.

Rich

Susan just returned from a weekend trip to Long Pond in Mass. to see some family and to get her fall colors fix. She stayed with her Aunt and Uncle, Janette and Wes. Here are some nice pics she took of the Pond.