Kat at CatHouse Chat has suffered a tragic loss. My prayers are with her.

I was unexpectedly away from my e-mail and computer most of yesterday, today doesn’t look any better. If you’re trying to contact me, be patient, I’ll answer when I can.

This is the Thursday edition of Open House, and comments and trackbacks are now open. If your site doesn’t support trackbacks, use the Wizbang Standalone Trackback Pinger.

I got an e-mail from Russell Lee Klika a few weeks ago with a hint at some new photos he’ll have available on his site soon. I thought I’d share them with you today. I can’t wait for the rest.

Everyone should have a little humor in their day, so here’s 21 annoying things to do on an elevator. A little youthful insight for all the parents readying today. A not so nice letter from K-Mart. The Cingular Comedy Hour for anyone who’s lost a password, or in this case not been given one. The Ultimate Rejection Letter. And for the geeks, I’ve added: Computer Stupidities – Operating Systems and haiku error messages.

My favorite haiku error message on the list is the first.

Three things are certain:
Death, taxes, and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.

Here’s a photography blog called The Landscapist that I recently noticed. It has a wonderful philosophy.

Photography that aims at being true, not at being beautiful because, what is true most often is beautiful. – Journal

Too hot and humid to get much done in the yard this weekend. Kind of annoying. Hopefully it will cool off a bit this weekend.

This is the Monday edition of Open House, and comments and trackbacks are now open. If your site doesn’t support trackbacks, use the Wizbang Standalone Trackback Pinger.

I deal with clients of various kinds on a daily basis, and sometimes it can be a painful process. When it comes to answering what I consider unfounded criticism, it’s always a challenge to say what I need to say and not what I really think. I’ve now found someone who has communication skills that are up to this task. Genius.

Do you like wildlife photography? If you do, then you’ll love Wild Things Photography. The eagle photos are fantastic, but the wolves are even better.

I’m changing my WordPress Plugins around. It sholdn’t affect site use, but you never know. I’ve dropped the Challenge plugin for instance. While it was working well, it was a little annoying. Spam Karma is more than capable of filtering out what comment spam I get. Essentially I was using the Challenge as a diagnostic tool to help identify a PHP time-out error. It ruled out the problem I suspected, but I found the problem anyway, so that’s taken care of.

I’m trying out StumbleUpon. It’s essentially a search engine with a randomness factor in it. You tell it general categories of things you like, and on demand it shows you interesting content in those areas. For any of you already using it, I’ve added a Stumble it! button for your use. Use it!

I’ve been slowly making changes to my blog theme, you may have noticed, but probably not. Pretty minor stuff for the most part. Trying various things to streamline the blog design and make it function smoother. It’s actually working very well, but there is always room for improvement.

This has got to be one of the stupidest ideas I’ve ever heard of.

Strip-mining regulations may be revised to relax rules on environmental damage

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration wants to quit requiring coal-mine operators to prove that their surface mining will not damage streams, fish and wildlife.Under proposed new regulations that it will put out today for public comment, strip-mine operators would have to show only that they intend “to prevent [such damage] to the extent possible using the best technology currently available.”

So… What’s to keep them from saying that they “intend” to prevent damage, then doing whatever they want? I’m speechless.

Jan has posted some more traveling photos. I think her Zigzag Falls post may be my favorite one yet. Stunning.

Update: She went and posted another Zigzag Falls while I wasn’t looking.

Not exactly forgotten actually. The bad news is I’ve been in meetings of one kind or another all day, and I didn’t have time to pre-post this one. The good new is that a project I’ve been working on for some time went off without a hitch. That’s a load off my mind.

I hope you’re all having a good week. Leave me a comment and tell me how your week is.

This is the Thursday edition of Open House, and comments and trackbacks are now open. If your site doesn’t support trackbacks, use the Wizbang Standalone Trackback Pinger.

Seth Godin has just written a fascinating article about perceived ownership and it’s relationship to marketing.

Seth’s Blog: Loss vs. Gain

People will go to great lengths to keep what they think they already have. Just watch how slow people are to volunteer to be bumped from an airplane…

Jan Bussey went traveling last week. As usual, she’s left us with some auto-posts to keep us occupied. Her Autopilot 5 post is quite good.

ow that she’s back though, I can say that her Multnomah Falls post was worth the wait though. What a beautiful spot. I’ll bet most of the people who travel that highway don’t bother to stop and see the falls. Now that is a wasted opportunity.

BLDGBLOG: Derinkuyu, or: the allure of the underground city

Meanwhile, Robert, my co-reader of Weisman’s book, pointed out that the discovery of Derinkuyu, by a man who simply “broke through a wall and discovered behind it a room that he’d never seen, which led to still another, and another,” is surely the ultimate undiscovered room fantasy – and I have to agree.

What a fascinating idea. Underground cities lying hidden under current cities and towns. Some beautiful photos of the various sites. I’m not interested in traveling to see a lot of the famous landmarks and structures that most tourists want to see. The Eiffel Tower for instance holds no interest for me. This on the other hand, I’d travel to see.

Everything is green in Virginia in the summer, and most of the other time too. That’s supposed to be a good thing. It never seems quite right to my eye though. Here’s the Washington State that I know and love.

I’ve posted other pictures of the Columbia before. They are here, and here. The photo in the second link might not seem like the Columbia, but it’s there, in the distance.

I’ll open with another thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the link and the quote, and to the several thousand people who followed that link.

Winter’s coming soon… isn’t it? Not soon enough for me. Here’s a little snow and ice to take your mind off the heat. I present, Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota. In case you’re wondering where the lake is, the whole picture is lake. The road, the houses, they’re all on the lake. I understand some of these fish houses even have satellite TV, and you can get pizza delivered.

This is the Monday edition of Open House, and comments and trackbacks are now open. If your site doesn’t support trackbacks, use the Wizbang Standalone Trackback Pinger.

Something about the weather has been making me think of fall. Fall to me reminds me of the Cascade Mountains, so I went in search of photos from one of my trips into those beautiful mountains. This is one of the many high lakes off of the Twisp River in North Central Washington.

AND YOU THOUGHT RATHERGATE WAS BAD: A CBS Reality Show Draws a Claim of Possible Child Abuse. – Instapundit.com

I saw the previews for this show, and I was shocked. Who looked at the concept of this show, leaving kids to fend for themselves, and thought “Wow, that’s great TV!” I realize there were adults around, but the idea is just absurd. Who allows their children to participate in something like this?

Thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the link and the quote.

I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes. He only has two posts up so far, but I love good outdoor and wilderness photography like the first one.