...I took control of my email again.

That's right - I love me some Gmail

I used to sign up for everything. I was getting offers and deals from everywhere. Then I realized that I really didn't need all that. So, last week, I started unsubscribing from everything.

Since then, I don't get woken up by a 3:54AM message from GuitarCenter telling me about the latest deal, or any of the others that seem to send over and over and over. Apple, you are by far the worst offender. I only need the email once. Two to three times to tell me about the new iNeedthis is enough, thank you very much.

It's great. I don't hear my phone going off all the time any more. It's quiet. I'm not rushing to see what it is. MAYBE I WON A MILLION DOLLARS!

I love having a clean inbox. I have embraced the "Archive" button. Do I need to do anything with this but I need the info for later...archive.

It's so nice having a clean look to the inbox. I don't feel like I'm getting behind anymore.

...I'm teaching people how to add a +1 button to their Blogger site. - Updated!

So, you want to add a +1 button to your Blogger page do you?

It's pretty easy.

Click on the Design tab, then click Edit HTML. Search for the </head> tag.

Paste this in the line after </script> but before </head>
<script src='http://apis.google.com/js.plusone.js' type='text/javascript'/>

Save your template and you are ready to go. You will now have a Google +1 button at the bottom of every post.

UPDATE! Apparently, you can also update and add the +1 button by clicking on the Design tab, then clicking EDIT in the Blog Posts box, uncheck and re-add the "Show Share Buttons" and it will be there as well.

...I found a voice-mail I was unaware I had.

This is waaaaay too funny not to share. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be hurt for this.

I was going through my Google Voice account and found an old voice-mail message that I was unaware of.

...good things are happening around here.

Nine and a half years ago, I moved in to the house I currently live in and own. As odd as it sounds, I can honestly say that it has never been as clean as it is right now. NEVER.

This house has seen quite a bit. Two marriages, four kids, four dogs, a multitude of cats, and various other animals. To say it was chaos around here is an understatement. Now, I will admit this... I am a lazy bastard. And because of such, I do not like to clean. Only one person is really to blame for this house getting to the point that it got to and that was me. I should have got on the kids to make things right around here, I should have got the people who lived here to pitch in more and help me keep the kids in line. All of that is going to change real quick. My kids are not going to like it. I'm not sure how much their mom makes them do around the house, but I am pretty sure it isn't a whole lot. I have to make sure that my kids understand that you get to do the fun things after you do what needs to be done. I have that approach at work so I need to bring it home too. I don't get to play chess at lunch if there are things to do. Why should my kids be downstairs watching TV if their bed isn't made, or if there are dishes to be put away.

I have someone to thank for this. My lady. She made me realize that there really is time for this once you just decide to get it done. That's what I'm doing now. I should have done it a long time ago. Let me tell you this, when you feel depressed, it just grabs a hold of you. You might not know it at the time, but it's something that just makes you want to sit there... do nothing... feel nothing... I'm glad she helped me snap out of it. It took her over a year. Most people would have quite almost instantly. Not her. She stuck with me, believed in me.

For those of you who have been here and don't believe what I'm writing, come over. I'm not ashamed of this house anymore. I still want to get out of it, but I am going to make the best of it while I am here. It's the only think I can do to stay sane... and it might make August 9th that much better for me. I have quite a bit more to get done here. Flooring will get laid down upstairs and downstairs to make it look even nicer around here within a month or so. Painting is going to begin as well. You're not going to recognize this place when it's done people.

...I started reading a book.

I started reading a book that was written by a long time friend of mine. By long time I mean I've known him for 32 years now.

He's got three of them up there now. This is the first one. I'm all about helping the starving artist. So, if you like mysteries, check it out.

It's a digital download only. So, get your Kindle app ready. Fire up your brain and start reading.