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is a FAMILY FRIENDLY web publication featuring an eclectic mix of (hopefully) humorous stories, answers to (mostly children's) questions, interesting news topics and odd or eccentric viewpoints and opinions. Basically we cover anything that interests me (aka Grandpa Oddball). If you have a question or topic you'd like to see covered click on our ask or suggest links. If you have a news item you'd like to share or if you have alternate viewpoints or opposing views to our opinion pieces that you'd like to submit click on our submit link. We're not proud and will consider any family friendly inquiry.

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Second Presidential Debate Impressions

October 17th, 2012 by Chief Oddball

The political season is upon us. Filled with attack ads and smear campaigns the season is proving to be more than disappointing. As many others are doing I try hard to tune out the meanness and pettiness of these campaigns but elections are important so I make it a habit to try and investigate the substance behind each candidate before deciding how to vote. In my opinion if you don't investigate and don't vote then you have no right to complain when the politicians screw up the country but that is an aside to this post.

As far as the presidential race is concerned I think we owe the candidates the courtesy of listening to the presidential debates before making up our minds how to vote. I haven't commented on the previous debates because they have been analyzed ad nausea and I have no useful additional comments but as I lay in bed this morning thinking about last night's debate several things about this debate started to impress themselves on my mind.

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I've been away for awhile (more operations and some illness) and been busy pursuing some programming projects while learning the Qt development system(and getting expeience using c++). I'm still learning the Qt system and recently had to develop a method of connecting to a web image and then display a thumbnail version in a dialog box on my local machine. If the image is animated (say an animated gif) then also show the animation in the thumbnail. Several people have expressed interest in my solution so instead of emailing what I did to everyone interested I’m posting the results here which also allows me the opportunity to let people know I’m still alive (and kicking?).

The solution turned out to be relatively simple and consists of three parts as follows: Read the rest of this entry »

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July 8th, 2012 by Chief Oddball

The rest of our Panama Canal cruise was somewhat anticlimactic. We stopped at Cartagena, Columbia and Aruba before disembarking at Fort Lauderdale, Florida where we passed through customs to reenter the U.S.

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January 24th, 2012 by Grandpa Oddball
I've been away for awhile (more operations and some illness) and been busy pursuing some programming projects while learning the Qt development system(and getting expeience using c++). I'm still learning the Qt system and recently had to develop a method of connecting to a web image and then display a thumbnail version in a dialog box on my local machine. If [...]


The rest of our Panama Canal cruise was somewhat anticlimactic. We stopped at Cartagena, Columbia and Aruba before disembarking at Fort Lauderdale, Florida where we passed through customs to reenter the U.S. Read about the end of our adventure.

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I'm now out of the nursing home and able to write easier. As I review what I'd written I realized that I'd omitted some Panama Canal pictures and information. As I mentioned in my last post you really have to experience the cruise in order to savor the flavor of the experience. Therefore in this brief post I'll just add the relevant pictures with a few comments thrown in here and there.

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January 23rd, 2012 by Grandpa Oddball

Still in the nursing home while writing these cruise reports. I'm not sure when I'll be able to post them. Whew, out of the nursing home so here goes.

Whew, it’s been a hectic couple of days for me with back to back excursions to Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Fortunately we had a day of rest before the canal proper. We spent most of the day on the promenade deck lounging and reading to relax. It was very nice.

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January 16th, 2012 by Grandpa Oddball


I'm now out of the nursing home and able to write easier. As I review what I'd written I realized that I'd omitted some Panama Canal pictures and information. As I mentioned in my last post you really have to experience the cruise in order to savor the flavor of the experience. Therefore in this brief post I'll just add the relevant pictures with a few comments thrown in here and there.


Still in the nursing home while writing these cruise reports. I'm not sure when I'll be able to post them. Whew, out of the nursing home so here goes.

Whew, it's been a hectic couple of days for me with back to back excursions to Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Fortunately we had a day of rest before the canal proper. We spent most of the day on the promenade deck lounging and reading to relax. It was very nice.

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Still in the nursing home while writing these cruise reports. I'm not sure when I'll be able to post them. NOTE: To learn more information or to view a larger image continue to click on a picture of interest

Costa Rica, the nation with no military and friendly people. By far Puntarenas, Costa Rica was most interesting and enjoyable port we visited. We got up early and went to the designated excursion assembly area with our manual wheelchair. The port at Puntarenas has a very long pier which accommodated a gangplank from the ship so we could take my manual wheelchair with us on our excursion. As it turned out we didn't need the wheelchair because all the walks were short enough for me but had I needed it, my manual wheelchair (and my walker) easily fit under the bus once it was folded up (however there isn't room for power wheelchairs).

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January 15th, 2012 by Grandpa Oddball

Had to temporarily stop writing because of an infection that sent me to the hospital. I'm finishing these cruise reports while recovering in a nursing home. Note: Keep clicking on a picture to see more information or to see a larger version of the picture.

On to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua but first we get to relax at sea for a couple of days. The next morning after Cabo grandma got a deal on a massage so she got up early and had her massage while I slept in bed. In fact I couldn't get out of bed without help so I waited until she returned. We went to breakfast late. Afterwords we found an elevator to the Sun deck where the grill was located and explored it.

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January 12th, 2012 by Grandpa Oddball

Still in the nursing home while writing these cruise reports. I'm not sure when I'll be able to post them. NOTE: To learn more information or to view a larger image continue to click on a picture of interest

Costa Rica, the nation with no military and friendly people. By far Puntarenas, Costa Rica was most interesting and enjoyable port we visited. We got up early and went to the designated excursion assembly area with our manual wheelchair. The port at Puntarenas has a very long pier which accommodated a gangplank from the ship so we could take my manual wheelchair with us on our excursion. As it turned out we didn't need the wheelchair because all the walks were short enough for me but had I needed it, my manual wheelchair (and my walker) easily fit under the bus once it was folded up (however there isn't room for power wheelchairs).


Had to temporarily stop writing because of an infection that sent me to the hospital. I'm finishing these cruise reports while recovering in a nursing home. Note: Keep clicking on a picture to see more information or to see a larger version of the picture.

On to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua but first we get to relax at sea for a couple of days. The next morning after Cabo grandma got a deal on a massage so she got up early and had her massage while I slept in bed. In fact I couldn't get out of bed without help so I waited until she returned. We went to breakfast late. Afterwords we found an elevator to the Sun deck where the grill was located and explored it.

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The day of our first excursion crept upon us. Well, perhaps excursion is a bit pretentious. It was the day of our first port visit and the port was Cabo San Lucas, Mexico but we didn't do a formal excursion. On the way into port there is a nice view of the coast. We just tendered in and walked about the port so we could say we've set foot in Mexico. More accurately grandma pushed me around the port in my wheelchair which was exhausting for her given the terrain and heat (90 degrees, grandma likes heat but not that much). Normally she likes pushing me around but not in my wheelchair!

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December 26th, 2011 by Grandpa Oddball

Our first full day at dawned with me sleeping with the back wedge we bought to relieve the pain in my lower back while traveling (I have a hospital bed at home but we can’t travel with that!). We had ordered some juice and coffee the night before and it was delivered while I was still in bed. Grandma got out of the shower, threw on a robe, and opened the door for delivery. She’d put on a Princess robe before opening the door. The robes provided by Princess looked nice but didn’t quite do the job. As grandma said, “They’re one size fits all provided you’re small”.

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December 19th, 2011 by Grandpa Oddball

The day of our first excursion crept upon us. Well, perhaps excursion is a bit pretentious. It was the day of our first port visit and the port was Cabo San Lucas, Mexico but we didn't do a formal excursion. On the way into port there is a nice view of the coast. We just tendered in and walked about the port so we could say we've set foot in Mexico. More accurately grandma pushed me around the port in my wheelchair which was exhausting for her given the terrain and heat (90 degrees, grandma likes heat but not that much). Normally she likes pushing me around but not in my wheelchair!

Our first full day at dawned with me sleeping with the back wedge we bought to relieve the pain in my lower back while traveling (I have a hospital bed at home but we can't travel with that!). We had ordered some juice and coffee the night before and it was delivered while I was still in bed. Grandma got out of the shower, threw on a robe, and opened the door for delivery. She'd put on a Princess robe before opening the door. The robes provided by Princess looked nice but didn't quite do the job. As grandma said, "They're one size fits all provided you're small".

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