Someday I want someone to tell me what a begeebee is, how many we start off with, and can I really afford to have anymore scared out of me!

• Xbox 360 defects: an inside history of Microsoft’s video game console woes
  Something I've experienced more than once in my life.

Did Chris Brogan just steal my metaphor of Twitter to a pulse in answering his own question? No attribution!

My answer: it gives the web a pulse, a voice, and connects me to your brilliance when I need it. You are the value.
29 minutes ago from txt

I jest. You know, the great minds thing. Since I caught the Twitter bug, I have been trying to answer the question "What is it? What does it do for me?" Recently I cemented my thoughts in Can you rely on Twitter for breaking news? Ultimately, I decided to explain Twitter as a pulse. Generally speaking, the more focused the people you follow are on a subject matter coupled with a larger number of those people, the more rapidly you will know about matters concerning that subject.

For example, If you follow a whole bunch of people who are really obsessed with dry ice and that’s all they really talk about, then you will know through Twitter anything that happens in the field of dry ice as quickly as it becomes public.

If you follow random people who all talk about different things, you’ll get noise but you will still get a feeling, a sense, of the commonalities of those people, a pulse. In my case, I follow:

1. friends and family
2. people in Knoxville
3. some breaking news sources
4. the movers and shakers in the technology world
5. ColdFusion and PHP developers (yeah yeah…some of you .NET guys too)

As Chris Brogan and I came to the same conclusion, I believe more and more people will begin explaining Twitter as a pulse on a topic even if that topic is the world.

Lost my temper with the twelve year old because he acted like a 12 year old boy. No! Not that. He was supposed to be watching the little ones while I did some programming and worked on the plumbing but he got drawn into his Playstation2, the one I told him not to play. I demonstrated anger, made 2 children cry, and now everyone (mostly Mom) is justifiably mad at me. Sometimes I wish I could roll the clock back just a few minutes and have a little do-over. Hugs, humility and apologies went all around. Tears were brushed away. But the damage is done. Self-flagellation ahead.

In my plumbing exploits, which really should be documented on video, I’ve learned the following:

• Brass fittings strip easily.
• No matter how sure footed you think you are, when doing the splits between the top of a bar stool and a two by four bracing the hallway drywall suspended over a stack of paint cans and a mop bucket, applying torque to a monkey wrench that is above your head will cause you to fall down.
• Swinging a two foot steel bar with your left hand against a drop forged pipe wrench (often mistaken for a monkey wrench) being held with your right hand is a mistake if you are not left handed.

Last time I did this, this plug came out much easier. Surely I’m doing something wrong.

Bearden High School has a home game tonight. Sarah will be demonstrating her excellence. Last year we discovered it was neither cost effective or prudent to take the whole family so Cathy and I take turns going to the games to support the teamflags. Alright, usually Cathy goes. So tonight’s evening chaos is brought to you by Liquid Plumber, The BHS Band Boosters, McDonald’s, and the RedCross babysitting training. Participants in tonight’s chaos are Amy, Evan, Noah, and Dad. Absence from this evenings show is Tommy who stayed at the college to chill with his hommies, Sarah who when not flirting with Zak is spinning flags on the field, and Mom who is taking pictures of Sarah flirting with Zak. Mom shoves down a McDonald’s cheese burger and is out the door leaving Noah instructions to get the trash out of the kitchen then help Dad with Amy and Evan. Amy is told to help Dad with Evan. Mom leaves. Noah goes to the back of the house and plays video games. Dad blinks at the trash. Amy and Evan erupted into loudness contests. Dad tries to figure out how to divide time between refereeing Amy and Evan, working on the tub, and coding web applications. It’s quiet upstairs… too quiet…

Dad, looking at the ChipIn results: "Jesus!"
Evan, 3 years old: "Da, why you say Jesus?"
Dad: "Oops. I was saying a thank you prayer."