Of all the Firefox extensions I use, ReminderFox has proven to be the one I would be most lost without.

This is the first post in a series about some of my favorite Firefox extensions.

I was not in a hurry to even try Firefox.

After a particularly bad version of Netscape, I’d switched to Internet Explorer and stayed there. For many years, I was a dedicated IE user. I can’t remember what finally got me to try FireFox, but now you’ll hear me complain whenever I have to use Internet Explorer. I hope you are not the webmaster of a site that would be forcing IE use on me! There are too many. It is like having to take the bus instead of driving a Porsche.

ReminderFox was the answer to a particular problem I had.

ReminderFox is easy to use.

When I only used Microsoft Windows, I used Office Outlook’s tasks to remind me of dates, especially recurring ones like paying the many bills I have every month. Outlook worked for the job because I nearly always started it to read email (not all my email accounts were in Outlook, but enough to get me to load it). I did loath starting Outlook. It is a resource hog that always brought computer use to a standstill while it loaded. Task reminders would pop up and freeze the screen till it loaded fully. Outlook also mixed up the Hotmail accounts, switching the mail between them and then completely failing to load the other.

When I began to switch to using Linux, I had a problem finding a substitute for Outlooks tasks.

Evolution (Ubuntu’s default email client) does not handle tasks as I would like. While there are plenty of calendar and task management programs available, these additional programs have the problem of needing me to start them in order for it to work. I find that I tend to not be very reliable at starting these things.

A search of FireFox extensions turned up ReminderFox.

ReminderFox has turned out to be the ideal solution. If there is one program I can nearly guarantee I’ll use regularly, it is a browser (particularly FireFox). Now I get the important reminders much more reliably.

I have found ReminderFox very easy to use.

You can set reoccurring tasks just as easily as Outlook. Reminders can be set over several days. I needed this feature for those online bills that still claim they need a couple working days to post the payment to the account. This way I get a warning before the bill is due so I can prepare for it.

Just a pet peeve:

I have seen credit cards that want a couple business days to acknowledge a payment. Add a weekend and a holiday and you need to make a payment five days before it is due to be on time. You could mail a check faster! I have canceled accounts with companies that do this but sometimes, you just have to work with morons like this. Just as annoying is finding out you paid too early and missed a monthly payment because it was credited a month early (a month that the balance was paid off also). I only hope the current banking problems will clear up stupidity like this, but it looks like our dear government leaders in Washington feel stupidity needs funding with our tax dollars. So, those companies that charge me extra fees because of their stupidity are not spending my tax money to do it.

ReminderFox can make a little pop up when a task is due.

This works just like Office Outlook’s pop-up warning for tasks, except it does not lock up the program on loading.

ReminderFox itself, lives in the toolbar in FireFox.

Hovering the mouse over it will show due or upcoming tasks. You can also add an audio warning for tasks that are due and choose your own audio file.

I have not mastered ReminderFox yet.

I still need to experiment to find out all the things it is capable of doing and all the features. Basic use is simple enough to figure out quick and I have not need to learn much more to do what I need.

If you need a good way to keep track of dates conveniently, ReminderFox may be just what you need.

Because it is run with FireFox, you see the reminders and don’t need to run a separate program. I’ve found it perfect for my needs. It makes my life easier.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have very much to be thankful for this year.

My wife and I are in good health. We have no debts. We have a warm (and dry at the moment) home to live in. We have plenty of food to eat.

I feel very blessed to have been born a US citizen.

My wife is not US born. She was born in a country that had been taken over by communism (that is the end result of the socialism that some think we need in this country). The things her family experienced are very different from what we Americans are used to. It is literally similar to some of the movies you may have watched about people trying to escape communist countries.

I am thankful to live in a free country.

We have the right to disagree (even openly) with our government. We can disagree with the policies the government has. We can openly campaign to change those policies. We also have the responsibility to make sure those we put in office respect that right and the freedoms this country was founded on.

The first settlers celebrated Thanksgiving for a good reason.

In the first year of the settlement, many, many of them died. The socialism they practiced at first led them to nearly total starvation. The idea of spreading the wealth (or in their case the supplies needed to survive) nearly always fails at some point. Their thanksgiving was a celebration of survival. It was a thanks to God for still being alive and for God helping them to be prepared for the coming winter. They were also thankful for the help of the Native American Indians.

When you compare what we have to what others are thankful for – you feel humbled.

Imagine half the people you know dying in one year like the early settlers. Imagine leaving everything you own behind fleeing to an unknown country like my wife’s family. Imagine those in places right now that do not have enough food to eat. Imaging living in a mud hut in poverty like Obama’s brother.

I am truly thankful for what I have been blessed with.

While not everything has been wonderful this year, God has really blessed me in many ways. The rest, God is just preparing bless to later.

God bless you all and I hope you have a happy thanksgiving.

*Update*

One more thing to be thankful for. My brother and his wife just had their third child today and everyone is healthy.

Everything I needed to learn about success, I learned from the Muppet Movie

You can learn a lot about success from the Muppet Movie.

Jim Henson was a genius. He created one of the greatest form of entertainment when he took puppets and created the Muppets. The first Muppet movie, Muppet Movie, also showed to everyone, young and old, what it takes to be successful.

In the Muppet Movie, Kermit the Frog shows many rules we need to know about success.

In the movie, we follow Kermit the Frog in his quest for success. He faces all sorts of problems and overcomes them to be a success.

Here are five rules of success you can learn from the Muppet Movie:

5. Never settle for something you do not want.

All through the Muppet Movie, Doc Hopper is making offers to Kermit the Frog to represent his frog leg franchise. Obviously, Kermit is repulsed by the idea. Still, the offers increase to the point that it would have been much easier just to give in. How many times do you settle for something you aren’t comfortable with because the money is right.

4. Face your problems.

Doc Hopper continued to chase Kermit till Kermit faced him down. If you have something nagging you, take care of the situation. It will only grow if you ignore it.

3.Trade up when the opportunity appears.

Just like trading in Fozzy Bear’s Studebaker. Sometimes the offer is better than you expect. You need room to grow.

2. Take others with you.

There is no shortage of success. Help other become successful too. It will help you also. Would Kermit have gotten his dream all by himself? Those he brought with him helped him too.

1. Take action, never take no, and never give up,

Kermit had to risk a comfortable life in the swamp to try for his dream. He also had a time limit to achieve that dream. Start right away.

Do not let no set you back. Sometime people say no because the time is not right for them. Later they may change their minds just like Electric Mayhem. Sometimes you need to ignore the no altogether and push forward just like Muppets did when the secretary told them they could not see the Hollywood producer.

Many times in the Muppet Movie it looks like Kermit the Frog will not see his dream. Even at the end, just as they are starting to roll the cameras, things look like they are falling apart. Just hold on, sometimes the most spectacular event is just about to happen.

At the end of the Muppet Movie, the following is added to the end of song Kermit sings above at the beginning of the movie.

Life’s like a movie write your own ending

Keep believing, keep pretending

We’ve done just what we set out to do

Someday, you’ll find it,

The rainbow connection

The lovers, the dreamers

and YOU!

I know, that’s more than five. You can learn a lot from Kermit the Frog. I wonder if he’s related to Yoda. They’re both green.

Are you sabotaging your success?

The weather was supposed to be lousy today.

It was supposed to be cold (in the 50′s -Fahrenheit for you non-Americans). It was supposed to rain all day, maybe even a thunderstorm.

It was raining this morning when I took my wife to work.

Maybe the weatherman would be right for a change. I have not seen an accurate forecast in a few weeks. A few supposedly bad weather days have been beautiful while the prophesied nice days have been kind of downers.

As I left the house again later, I left my sunglasses in the house.

Once in the car, I realized I had left them. While it was not raining right then, it looked like it would start any moment again. So, I didn’t bother to go back for them even though I usually take them just in case the sun comes out. I really planned to come back soon anyway.

As I left the studio later today the sun was starting to show through some of the overcast sky.

I caught myself wishing it would rain because I forgot my sunglasses.

Yes, I wanted lousy weather, just because I was not ready for nice weather.

How many times have I made calls with the the same negative thoughts?

I hope they don’t answer, because I don’t feel like setting the appointment. Maybe I am concerned about something on my schedule (that I don’t care about anyway) but I pass over opportunities just because, in my mind, I have too much to do already.

Do you ever suffer from self-sabotage?

Do you ever find yourself hoping that, what would really be best, does not happen? What do you do to overcome it?