Dan Poynter

Author's posts

Da Bears

About three years ago Heather’s dad went hunting and shot a black bear. If you have never tried it, let me tell you that it is amazing. It is glorious. It is quite possibly the best meat I have ever had. Contrary to what most people ask me, no, it is not greasy. It is wonderfully …

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Review: Sophos Antivirus for Windows

A lot of you out there ask me for computer advice. I don’t mind; I like feeling important, and giving advice helps me do that (so does making my own blog). Probably the question I get the most often is, “What kind of computer should I get?” My answer is, always, “You should get an …

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My Christmas List 2009

Once again I have been asked to provide a Christmas List. You would have thought that people learned after reading last year’s, but you would be wrong. To you readers who did not specifically ask for or hint at what to buy me for Christmas, don’t buy me anything: this is strictly for your amusement. You …

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Smileyeth

In 1 Chronicles 5:2 (KJV) I have  found what might be the earliest emoticon; I think the placement is kind of humorous (I have included a bit of 5:1 for context): …and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was …

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Cake or death

Once, Heather and the girls went out of town for Thanksgiving; I was stuck at home because I had to work. But before Heather left, she made a chocolate cake. So I had cake for breakfast that first day. When I came home for lunch, I didn’t feel like cooking, so I had chocolate cake …

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Pyrrhic victory

n., a victory won at too great a cost too great to make it worthwhile. A long time ago my wife-to-be and I were heading back to our apartment from her parents’ house on a gravel road. I was driving, and Heather was nagging. She had quickly tired of my driving, and I had quickly …

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Best 4th of July ever

My favorite 4th of July memory happened the summer after I turned 12. We were over at the house of one of my Dad’s friends, a loud German guy named Bob. Bob lived in Kansas, and despite the state’s reputation for flatness, Bob lived on an amazingly steep hill. Both his front and back yards sloped …

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1/3 Million Mile Mazda

My little 1991 Mazda Protégé/323 hit 1/3 of a million miles last week. I bought the car when it had 188,912 miles on it, and I’ve put the remaining miles on over the last 5 ½ years. It’s my second Mazda (my first was a 1983 GLC–also awesome). This is the most miles I have ever …

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But I won’t do that

1993 saw the out-of-nowhere comeback of Meat Loaf with his hit I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That). According to Mr. Loaf, ‘What is “that?” is one of the questions he is most frequently asked, and Jim Steinman, the songwriter, says that there are several clues as to what ‘that‘ is …

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Buying a stove shouldn’t be this hard, pt. 1

The oven went out in our Frigidaire gas range (this was after the clock went out a couple years ago–it’s been the worst appliance I’ve ever owned), so we finally broke down and went shopping for a new range. We were looking for a prosumer gas convection range, as Heather does a lot of baking. …

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