It was a long time coming, but this past weekend I finally had the boat out on the water again. It turned into a weekend’s worth of boating actually, as I had “Sea Dreams” out both Saturday and Sunday. Sunday Winnie and one of her friends went with us and we did a bit of fishing.
Charest Family on the Web Posts
…And Other Comments on Spammers and Hackers
When I started this website over two years ago, I envisioned a comfortable family-type website that could help our far-flung family keep in touch. I wasn’t a newbie at running websites as I had operated a “commercial” website for the five years prior to my divorce (commercial in the sense that I had hopes of making money off it, not that I actually did make money).
I was well aware of the threats from hackers, and the annoyance of getting hundreds of daily spam e-mails offering everything from increased site traffic to earning thousands, even millions, of dollars overnight using whatever money-making system the particular spammer was pushing. It was about three years between the times I shut down my flagship “RCM TravelSite” to the time I started “The Charest Family on the Web.” I have been shocked at how the Internet community has changed over those years.
I just wanted to wish all mothers reading this website, and even those who don’t read it, a very happy and belated Mother’s day. Here’s hoping that everyone had a lovely day and was able to spend at least a short while with family and close friends.
I also wanted to say a few words after a very long and busy month.
A Preview of Things to Come?
We’ve been having what local news stations are referring to as “nor’easter.” Loosely translated, this appears to mean a major storm affecting the entire North Eastern part of the United States. Had I not read this in the local newspapers, I’d of thought we were brushed by a hurricane even larger than Katrina.
I just wanted to wish all Christians a Happy Easter celebration. Although raised in a household with a Catholic Dad and Lutheran Mom, I’m not much of a practicing Christian of any flavor now-a-days (neither Protestant or Catholic). Winnie, as a Buddhist with essentially no exposure to Christianity before meeting me, doesn’t really understand the significance of today’s celebration.
For us, today has been a quiet day dedicated to unpacking boxes and arranging the house. But I do remember some of my Bible teachings, and want to reflect on them briefly.
On this Easter Sunday, 2007, I’d like to share a few neighborhood pictures of what spring looks like in our new home.
But you’ll need to click the “More” link to see them… Consider this news post is several thousand words long!
Last night we took the final step of moving. We closed out the lease on our apartment and turned in the keys. What a great feeling it was!
All we wanted to do was return a vacuum cleaner. We had purchased it 5 days earlier, broken it after 20 minutes total use, and decided to get a different model. By the time we were successful we had involved most of the Wal-Mart’s night shift, provided entertainment for other shoppers, yelled at the store manager and received personal guidance on choosing a vacuum cleaner from the housewares department manager.
All of this only took about one hour. What a night.
We’re still moving stuff into our new house, but now we’re actually living there. Last Friday we had the cable guy hook up our television and Internet service. We moved our venerable futon bed, set it up in the downstairs bedroom, and that was it.
Time to move in!
My Letter to the Editor – Rebuttal to a Hateful Screed on Immigration
Our local Prince William County, Virginia, newspaper “The Potomac News” ran a letter to the editor today that ranks as one of the most hateful screeds against immigration that I have ever read, anywhere. Even though I have already pegged this particular newspaper as a hard-core conservative newspaper, I was still shocked they would print such a letter. I had to respond.
Opinions & Commentary
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