Author Archives: Rob

Date with the Twins

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scavenger_hunt

Both dates today were scavenger hunts. Rachel was first and then Alexis. Here’s what we hunted for on our dates.
Rachel:

  • Lily Pad
  • Red Berries
  • Mounds Bar – this one was not found even after visiting several stores
  • Gorilla Glue – I needed this for some chores
  • Neemo clown fish

Alexis:

  • Sand
  • Rose
  • Moss
  • Mastic – glue for the tile back splash in the kitchen
  • Turtle

When Rachel was home with Heather they had “special time.” Heather typed in a letter while Rachel said the words. Here is the letter.

Dear Mom,

Right now we are having special time. I love you very much and it is very special for me to be able to spend time with you without Alexis being here. It is also very special for you to go out on a date with your daddy. When we spend time together, I feel happy.

I want. I hope that Lexi and daddy come home soon. If they do, i would spend more time with them. I want to play with my sister when she gets home from her date. With daddy. And then i want to for dinner i will sit at the table and eat green beans, chicken, and spaghetti. Red sauce on the spaghetti.

Love Rachel

Shopping Carts

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To integrate a shopping cart into one website, cart software must be installed, then connected to a payment gateway. An article about shopping carts recommended a company called digiSHOP. This company is expensive but the writer explained that it was easy to use and customize.

Personally, I tried Zen-cart and it was much too difficult to work with. I spent hours reading and trying to figure out the code without seeing any progress. Although Zen-cart is free, I would pay for it in hassle.

Once the shopping cart is established, then comes the expense of a Merchant Gateway or Payment Processing. The industry standard is Authorize.net for accepting credit cards and placing the funds in your account. Bottom line, if a person wants an ecommerce site, it will require a fair amount of money and a designer.

Easier payment solutions would be PayPal or Google Checkout.

Additional Research:
intelli-collect
2 check out
click bank

company w/ merchant accounts
merchant warehouse
insta-merchant
durango merchant services
merchant express

Chicago Air & Water Show

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My father used to take me to air shows in Ohio when I was a boy so it was a special treat to attend the Chicago Air and Water Show this weekend. We took the train and bus downtown to North Shore Beach to join thousands of others for the show. We attended the second half of the show for the sake of the children – they would not last an entire day. F-15s roared across the sky as we arrived, followed by stunt prop planes. The show concluded with the Thunderbirds.

There was the imminent threat of rain which paused the show. We took cover in the Drake hotel to enjoy a masterfully played harp and the countries top rated Ladies Restroom – complete with a dozen flat panel televisions for who knows what sort of entertainment while powdering.

While returning to the busses the rain came. We got drenched and Alexis was in tears from the onslaught. Air conditioners in the bus and train kept us fridgid the remainder of the trip – should have brought additional clothes or an umbrella. All in all it was an excellent trip. We’ll always have good memories of the 2009 Air and Water Show.

The Perfect Trip to WI

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We went to Rhinelander, WI for the first time in almost two years since we moved away. The trip was everything we wanted and more. Here’s what we did.

  • Stayed with the Dreschers while Bonnie was home
  • Day at Squash Lake riding a wave runner
  • Saw Jamie and Brougan Willingham
  • Visited the house that I built and sold to Mike Jewel
  • Went to Fort Wilderness
    • Shot a .20guage shotgun at clay pigeons at Outpost80 with Scott Koval
    • Went for a canoe ride while Chad Rich slept on the beach
    • Water painted with Sandy Robertson
    • Made soda at the Nature Center with Michael Lane
  • Had a campfire with Mike and Jeannie Baker
  • Watched a meteor shower laying on a trampoline with Amy Drescher

Audio Engineering

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We had a contemporary worship concert in the sanctuary where we setup drums with the full cage – very unusual for the sanctuary. The drummer had nine cymbals so the set was bigger than the shields. Here’s a photo of me inside the cage.IMG_0005

FTP access

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Below is a way to accessing an FTP server using one line in the URL. “ftp://” followed by the user name followed by “:” followed by the password followed by “@” followed by the website URL.

For example:
ftp://rsoukup:password@robsoukup.info

Date with Rachel

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rachel_daiseysOff to the flower shop – again – for this date with Rachel. It was the cutest scenario that Rachel was wearing a purple dress with daisies. I asked her to pick out some flowers to take home. She found some daisies in a pot. Perfectly coordinating with her dress.

Date with Alexis

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alexis_trail For this date, Alexis and I went to Sternes Woods, a forest preserve, early in the morning. We pretended that a bear lived in a dark cave somewhere in the forest. The path looks like the entrance to a cave. We rushed through the trail so the bear would not get us – and because the mosquitoes WERE getting us.

Date with Alexis

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For Alexis’s Daughter Date with Daddy, we went to the downtown ice cream shop. Alexis picked the Blue Moon flavor. We ate the ice cream as we walked down Main St. and sat on a bench. Alexis wanted to sit in the shaded outdoor restaurant nearby so we used her charm to secure a table with her ice cream cone and all. This date was back to back with Rachel’s but after dinner.