I have blown through the 100 mark for Wei-Hwa puzzles. Since I have a gmail account, I get to use my Google ID to personalize my homepage. On the homepage, it has a small puzzle, a lot like Sudoku, and during lunch I'll do one or two, if I'm compiling then I will finish one, and during the evening, I'll usually do one or two more. It's taken some time to get this far, but only another 50 more, and I'll have finished the puzzles!
For the big news of the day: I've ordered my GPS! It will be coming to my address down here and then the world will open up! I'm getting a "Magellan Explorist 500 LE North American Handheld Color GPS." I prefer to call it my gps. :-)
And in other minor news: after having the car sitting under a tree with a multitude of birds for 3 weeks, I finally decided to get a car wash. In another three weeks, I'll probably have to do it again, but I won't announce it for you - there can only be so much excitement in a single year!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
Bridge to Terabithia
Today's review: 
Bridge to Terabithia
I found Bridge to Terabithia to be far from what I was expecting. I was expecting a light adventure, with pretty graphics and a happy go lucky storyline. It was far darker than that. To give a brief overview of the dark-side of the movie (minus one big plot device ): the hero's father is extremely poor, shows his love to his youngest daughter all the time but barely a word of thanks for the hero, bullies at school, another father that beats his children, the heroes are unpopular and ignored (usually) by their parents, and bullied at school. It is dark, but the odd thing was, by the end of the show, I had decided that it was a kinda-nice show. Yes it is serious, but you see people overcome their circumstances, and build their own world of joy.
Because I have a big preference for a happy ending, I probably won't see it again when the DVD comes out, but such an ending did show how much the young boy had grown.
Now for the basic plotline which gives away all but one huge plot turn. For those who have read the book, you know the plot already. Mom, you can ask what it is when you call. :-) ..... A boy who is harassed at school becomes friends with a new transfer that no-one wants to be friends with. They go off to play together after school, and they build a tree house which becomes their castle in their imaginary world of Terabithia. They have a few problems getting along (mostly related to the boy's impression of being rejected by his father, which isn't really true), but a tragedy forces the boy to grow up and stand on his own two feet. At the very end, he brings his little sister to the imaginary world to be the princess of Terabithia and future queen.
Next movie review will be "TMNT".
Bridge to TerabithiaI found Bridge to Terabithia to be far from what I was expecting. I was expecting a light adventure, with pretty graphics and a happy go lucky storyline. It was far darker than that. To give a brief overview of the dark-side of the movie (minus one big plot device ): the hero's father is extremely poor, shows his love to his youngest daughter all the time but barely a word of thanks for the hero, bullies at school, another father that beats his children, the heroes are unpopular and ignored (usually) by their parents, and bullied at school. It is dark, but the odd thing was, by the end of the show, I had decided that it was a kinda-nice show. Yes it is serious, but you see people overcome their circumstances, and build their own world of joy.
Because I have a big preference for a happy ending, I probably won't see it again when the DVD comes out, but such an ending did show how much the young boy had grown.
Now for the basic plotline which gives away all but one huge plot turn. For those who have read the book, you know the plot already. Mom, you can ask what it is when you call. :-) ..... A boy who is harassed at school becomes friends with a new transfer that no-one wants to be friends with. They go off to play together after school, and they build a tree house which becomes their castle in their imaginary world of Terabithia. They have a few problems getting along (mostly related to the boy's impression of being rejected by his father, which isn't really true), but a tragedy forces the boy to grow up and stand on his own two feet. At the very end, he brings his little sister to the imaginary world to be the princess of Terabithia and future queen.
Next movie review will be "TMNT".
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Music and Lyrics
Today's review: 
Music and Lyrics
I went to see "Music and Lyrics" tonight. It was an assignment given to me by Mom: to go see the movie and to blog about it. I have SO MUCH to do with all my homework. It is rough. :-)
I thought the show was pretty good. Other than the protagonists sleeping together in the middle of the movie, it was pretty clean. Now onto the plot with personal commentary! Hugh Grant is a washed up '80s rock performer. ( The 'POP' band he's acting for was real, and if the movie's examples of their songs are accurate, I'm going to find some other songs and listen to them. They were enjoyable) The current diva of the day loves his music and gives him and 8 others the task (competition) of writing a hit song. He hires a song lyricist but the lady (Drew Barrymore) who waters his plants has a better ear for the lyrics, so Hugh Grant hires the caretaker. They struggle with their personal demons: she lacks confidence and Hugh lacks scruples (get the song out, even if it isn't what is should be). Near the end, Hugh presents the song, the diva ruins the song, Drew refuses to let it happens and gets kicked out, Hugh tries to reason with the diva and Drew.... and the movie ends wonderfully. With Drew confident about her writing ability and Hugh with his composing ability.
The twist at the end isn't a surprise, but I don't want to give everything away.
Music and LyricsI went to see "Music and Lyrics" tonight. It was an assignment given to me by Mom: to go see the movie and to blog about it. I have SO MUCH to do with all my homework. It is rough. :-)
I thought the show was pretty good. Other than the protagonists sleeping together in the middle of the movie, it was pretty clean. Now onto the plot with personal commentary! Hugh Grant is a washed up '80s rock performer. ( The 'POP' band he's acting for was real, and if the movie's examples of their songs are accurate, I'm going to find some other songs and listen to them. They were enjoyable) The current diva of the day loves his music and gives him and 8 others the task (competition) of writing a hit song. He hires a song lyricist but the lady (Drew Barrymore) who waters his plants has a better ear for the lyrics, so Hugh Grant hires the caretaker. They struggle with their personal demons: she lacks confidence and Hugh lacks scruples (get the song out, even if it isn't what is should be). Near the end, Hugh presents the song, the diva ruins the song, Drew refuses to let it happens and gets kicked out, Hugh tries to reason with the diva and Drew.... and the movie ends wonderfully. With Drew confident about her writing ability and Hugh with his composing ability.
The twist at the end isn't a surprise, but I don't want to give everything away.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Smarter This Time
Or not. My boss is planning to ship this coming Tuesday. By Friday night, we fixed all the bugs. The installer is doing what we want, within limits, and we're ready to ship. My boss is testing the installer on several systems and randomly tries to print. Failure. Printing works only on XP. Not on ME or 98. Back to the drawing board. Six hours later (not including Allan's time spent working on the problem ) I figure out that I must be missing an initialization of printing. I create a test to see if this is the case. After taking an hour to code the test, I run it... and it works slightly better - it now prints to one printer. I just need to get it working for the new printer now. Since the test was as simple as I could make it, I need to go back through and go line by line and add in code very carefully. I'm guessing that the coding will proceed at a line ever 2 minutes, which would be an average of one letter every ten seconds. I think the average for software programmers is 20 lines of code per hour.
Does this mean I'm an incredibly fast programmer, to be doing 30 lines of code an hour? No, I've spent (in previous months) two, maybe three weeks, working with this exact same code. My average with the previous time included? 3 lines an hour, maybe 4. A letter every minute. Whew, the rush!!
All the code isn't that slow. Two weeks ago, I used a whole week to create a system manager program in a mere 3300 lines. All but 300 lines of the code was carefully analyzed, changed, moved around, and debugged. Several times, I took a whole hour just sitting back and studying the flow of the program. Understanding the why is 10 times... 100 times more important than knowing the what of the program. I could tell you the "what" of the program 8 months ago. I couldn't have told you the "why". Eight months ago, I couldn't have figure out the program myself if I took two months. Today, that same program took a week.
Oh, one last detail to bring to mind how excruciatingly slow, boring, and frustrating programming can be. My co-worker Dan, spent over a month working to get the installer right. Wednesday, we tossed away that work and started afresh. Could we salvage ANY of the code? No. But by Friday, we had an installer working. That is because Dan didn't give me all the details of HOW the installer works, but WHY the installer does things certain ways.
College taught me how to program, learning the why behind a program is far harder. When I worked at Emerson Process Management as an intern, my boss told me something surprising: They don't expect a new hire to be useful for 6 months. Why? Because it takes them six months to figure out what is going on and to start producing more than than they get paid.
Following the reasoning out, specialists should get paid a lot more.. why? Not because they are better at programming or know the syntax of C++ better than anyone else, but because they figure out the why. At EPM, as part of my project, a guy was hired for 2 1/2 months from Sweden. He could barely speak or read English, yet in those 2 1/2 months, he had a fully integrated Windows application produced. He knew the why behind MFC.
And I'm starting to ramble. I didn't go to Sea World yesterday or today. I'm going to plan for Wednesday... barring more programming problems.
Does this mean I'm an incredibly fast programmer, to be doing 30 lines of code an hour? No, I've spent (in previous months) two, maybe three weeks, working with this exact same code. My average with the previous time included? 3 lines an hour, maybe 4. A letter every minute. Whew, the rush!!
All the code isn't that slow. Two weeks ago, I used a whole week to create a system manager program in a mere 3300 lines. All but 300 lines of the code was carefully analyzed, changed, moved around, and debugged. Several times, I took a whole hour just sitting back and studying the flow of the program. Understanding the why is 10 times... 100 times more important than knowing the what of the program. I could tell you the "what" of the program 8 months ago. I couldn't have told you the "why". Eight months ago, I couldn't have figure out the program myself if I took two months. Today, that same program took a week.
Oh, one last detail to bring to mind how excruciatingly slow, boring, and frustrating programming can be. My co-worker Dan, spent over a month working to get the installer right. Wednesday, we tossed away that work and started afresh. Could we salvage ANY of the code? No. But by Friday, we had an installer working. That is because Dan didn't give me all the details of HOW the installer works, but WHY the installer does things certain ways.
College taught me how to program, learning the why behind a program is far harder. When I worked at Emerson Process Management as an intern, my boss told me something surprising: They don't expect a new hire to be useful for 6 months. Why? Because it takes them six months to figure out what is going on and to start producing more than than they get paid.
Following the reasoning out, specialists should get paid a lot more.. why? Not because they are better at programming or know the syntax of C++ better than anyone else, but because they figure out the why. At EPM, as part of my project, a guy was hired for 2 1/2 months from Sweden. He could barely speak or read English, yet in those 2 1/2 months, he had a fully integrated Windows application produced. He knew the why behind MFC.
And I'm starting to ramble. I didn't go to Sea World yesterday or today. I'm going to plan for Wednesday... barring more programming problems.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Working Hard... Not Smart?
Ah, the joys of a release. My companies Windows product that I'm working on was scheduled to go out Monday. Everything is testing fine until Friday morning. When we put everything together, the installer explodes, and the Bank Reconciliation programs decide that they prefer a hard crash for every little strcpy. And for the last weekend and Monday and today, we've been working overtime just to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. Ah, the joys of salaried pay.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Family Blessings
And yet another week goes by without a GPS for hiking or an electric piano for night time enjoyment. Next week.. next week. Actually, next week I'm planning to go to Sea World so I won't need any of those things. It is a rough life down here. :-)
Saturday night, it was 11:00 I had brushed my teeth, and was getting into bed, when I started to listen to the noises. There were a few bullfrogs and some sort of weird twittering insect making noises. It sounded like a hot summer evening in Pennsylvania when all the crickets are going full time.... except I was inside the house here and it still sounded close. It lasted about a minute, and then it went completely quite. I waited 5 minutes and haven't heard a thing for the last 5 minutes... nothing. The house doesn't creek, no bird calls, no wind, no cars from the nearby highway, no neighbors. creepy.
I'm off to bed. I know it is barely nine, but I've been feeling tired lately. It is a vicious circle because I also set my alarm to go off earlier if I get to bed earlier. On a more personal note, I was thinking about home and family. Specifically about this last weekend. Everyone but me was at my parent's house, and I was just thinking how lucky it is to have a mom and dad that's willing to watch the grandchild to give K and R time to relax together, to have a mom and dad that opens home to my older sister so she can live at home while she works and breeds dogs and feed cats, and to have a mom and dad that wants to visit my brother and sister and law even though they live six hours away. That doesn't really stand out to me to much, but then this evening I'm thinking about other families I know and the troubles they go through and it's amazing that us siblings have parents like Mom and Dad and siblings like each other. I wouldn't trade any of them for anyone else I know. I love you guys (and gals). I'm going to call home now. :-)
Saturday night, it was 11:00 I had brushed my teeth, and was getting into bed, when I started to listen to the noises. There were a few bullfrogs and some sort of weird twittering insect making noises. It sounded like a hot summer evening in Pennsylvania when all the crickets are going full time.... except I was inside the house here and it still sounded close. It lasted about a minute, and then it went completely quite. I waited 5 minutes and haven't heard a thing for the last 5 minutes... nothing. The house doesn't creek, no bird calls, no wind, no cars from the nearby highway, no neighbors. creepy.
I'm off to bed. I know it is barely nine, but I've been feeling tired lately. It is a vicious circle because I also set my alarm to go off earlier if I get to bed earlier. On a more personal note, I was thinking about home and family. Specifically about this last weekend. Everyone but me was at my parent's house, and I was just thinking how lucky it is to have a mom and dad that's willing to watch the grandchild to give K and R time to relax together, to have a mom and dad that opens home to my older sister so she can live at home while she works and breeds dogs and feed cats, and to have a mom and dad that wants to visit my brother and sister and law even though they live six hours away. That doesn't really stand out to me to much, but then this evening I'm thinking about other families I know and the troubles they go through and it's amazing that us siblings have parents like Mom and Dad and siblings like each other. I wouldn't trade any of them for anyone else I know. I love you guys (and gals). I'm going to call home now. :-)
Friday, February 23, 2007
Sisters, Plots, And Music
I'm so happy. Katie is debating today and she gets to show off the baby at the same time. I was asking her (Katie, not the baby) what the schedule for today was, and she described the schedule to me and she mentioned something about CR and I realized I had completely forgotten about the baby! Wow. I must not be a good uncle! Mom is going to watch CR for the day... wait... this is suspicious...
(1) Mom hears about an open spot for a debater
(2) Mom tells sister
(3) sister accepts
(4) Mom holds baby
Ha! I knew there was a plot to hold the baby somewhere! And I found it. The great mastermind behind this fiendish plan? MOM!
Over last weekend, I played some Beethoven music I brought south with me and tried playing it a bit. Moonlight Sonata and The Pathetic Sonata (Opus 13). At this very moment, I'm reading the company's notes for The Pathetic Sonata... "full of sorrow, with a mingling of love and devotion..." Nowhere does the author mention anything about excitement. Beethoven has a whole measure of 1/64th notes. There is no way that even "Grave" can play those slowly. And the very next movement has the left hand playing at 552 notes a minute. That is 9.2 notes a second. "full of sorrow... love and devotion"???? Did the guy that wrote that line ever hear the music played? How do you get "full of sorrow" from a tempo marking of "Allegro di molto e con brio!"
Related topic - Trans Siberian Orchestra. That band is who I first heard "The Pathetic Sonata" from. i think the actual name of the song was "Mephistopheles." I'll look it up tomorrow. It was such a beautiful, enrapturing part of the band's song (the rest of the song wasn't so enrapturing), that as soon as I first played it for practice I recognized what it was... and after I looked at the temp markings, I also realized the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was playing the song at one third tempo. Bah. I can play it almost at full speed... but only for about 30 seconds... Well, I can only play two pages of the 17 pages song at that speed. After the first two pages, my familiarity with the song goes down rapidly. After hiking this weekend, I'll probably sit down for a hour or two and practice.
(1) Mom hears about an open spot for a debater
(2) Mom tells sister
(3) sister accepts
(4) Mom holds baby
Ha! I knew there was a plot to hold the baby somewhere! And I found it. The great mastermind behind this fiendish plan? MOM!
Over last weekend, I played some Beethoven music I brought south with me and tried playing it a bit. Moonlight Sonata and The Pathetic Sonata (Opus 13). At this very moment, I'm reading the company's notes for The Pathetic Sonata... "full of sorrow, with a mingling of love and devotion..." Nowhere does the author mention anything about excitement. Beethoven has a whole measure of 1/64th notes. There is no way that even "Grave" can play those slowly. And the very next movement has the left hand playing at 552 notes a minute. That is 9.2 notes a second. "full of sorrow... love and devotion"???? Did the guy that wrote that line ever hear the music played? How do you get "full of sorrow" from a tempo marking of "Allegro di molto e con brio!"
Related topic - Trans Siberian Orchestra. That band is who I first heard "The Pathetic Sonata" from. i think the actual name of the song was "Mephistopheles." I'll look it up tomorrow. It was such a beautiful, enrapturing part of the band's song (the rest of the song wasn't so enrapturing), that as soon as I first played it for practice I recognized what it was... and after I looked at the temp markings, I also realized the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was playing the song at one third tempo. Bah. I can play it almost at full speed... but only for about 30 seconds... Well, I can only play two pages of the 17 pages song at that speed. After the first two pages, my familiarity with the song goes down rapidly. After hiking this weekend, I'll probably sit down for a hour or two and practice.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
50 First Dates - Update One
Ha, I've successfully ripped the DVD to my computer and am now using VirtualDub to modify the movie. I've gotten through the first 20 minutes of the movie. I had to restart a few times until I figured out what would make a good editing. It's moving at a decent rate right now. VirtualDub keeps crashing about 2-3 minutes fairly regularly, so it's going slow - but I am making progress!
But - time for the interesting part of today!
A few days ago, I posted some break-dancing videos that I enjoyed. Today, I'll post some of the comics I enjoy.
First on the list, because it is a completed comic, is the Miracle of Science. Decent comic - drawing isn't great, but the storyline is the second best long running plot I've read in a comic...and the comic is finished! No wondering for three years how a particular story arc will turn out! ( Some webcomics update once a week... very boring... but I still check )
DMFA - Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures - I check this one multiple times throughout the day. Not because I enjoy it that much, but because I have one batch file that opens a whole bunch of my favorite sites and when I want to see one, I see them all, and DMFA is the first on that the batch file opens.
Last but not least is Vexxarr. An interesting read. There isn't much of a plotline, but the dialog is full of sarcasm, thinly veiled threats, and statements of impending doom upon anything non-mechanical.
By admitting the fact that I read webcomics, I have fully shown the world the lack of life I have.
Good luck Friday Kate!
But - time for the interesting part of today!
A few days ago, I posted some break-dancing videos that I enjoyed. Today, I'll post some of the comics I enjoy.
First on the list, because it is a completed comic, is the Miracle of Science. Decent comic - drawing isn't great, but the storyline is the second best long running plot I've read in a comic...and the comic is finished! No wondering for three years how a particular story arc will turn out! ( Some webcomics update once a week... very boring... but I still check )
DMFA - Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures - I check this one multiple times throughout the day. Not because I enjoy it that much, but because I have one batch file that opens a whole bunch of my favorite sites and when I want to see one, I see them all, and DMFA is the first on that the batch file opens.
Last but not least is Vexxarr. An interesting read. There isn't much of a plotline, but the dialog is full of sarcasm, thinly veiled threats, and statements of impending doom upon anything non-mechanical.
By admitting the fact that I read webcomics, I have fully shown the world the lack of life I have.
Good luck Friday Kate!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Ghost Rider
For today's post on an incredibly popular and commonly read blog ( I think I hear my brother laughing ) I will do a review on the movie Ghost Rider.
I watched Ghost Rider Friday night. I don't want to give away any of the plotline, so I'll just say the plot is completely predictable, the fights were disappointingly simple, and the special effects are very good. As much as I enjoy watching a whole street of cars flip into store fronts while bursting into flame, I don't think I'll see the movie again. That was a short review. :-)
Almost short - I can't help it, I need to rant a bit more about the boss fights. Sunday, I watched the last two fights of Gorgeous. THAT is a good fight: good choreography, closely matched opponents, good reflexes, speed, humor, character development during the fights and both fights together last 30 minutes if they were put back to back. In Ghost Rider, there were no close fights. Ghost Rider always outpowered his opponents (by a huge amount) and had no finness while doing it. Come on! The movie gave Ghost Rider an unstoppable physical attack and a spiritual attack that is only SUPER EFFECTIVE against any evil. And movie goers are supposed to think that Ghost Rider is ever in trouble? Bah.
I watched Ghost Rider Friday night. I don't want to give away any of the plotline, so I'll just say the plot is completely predictable, the fights were disappointingly simple, and the special effects are very good. As much as I enjoy watching a whole street of cars flip into store fronts while bursting into flame, I don't think I'll see the movie again. That was a short review. :-)
Almost short - I can't help it, I need to rant a bit more about the boss fights. Sunday, I watched the last two fights of Gorgeous. THAT is a good fight: good choreography, closely matched opponents, good reflexes, speed, humor, character development during the fights and both fights together last 30 minutes if they were put back to back. In Ghost Rider, there were no close fights. Ghost Rider always outpowered his opponents (by a huge amount) and had no finness while doing it. Come on! The movie gave Ghost Rider an unstoppable physical attack and a spiritual attack that is only SUPER EFFECTIVE against any evil. And movie goers are supposed to think that Ghost Rider is ever in trouble? Bah.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Kick Your Heels Up And Dance, Come On Now
I was considering what I should put in my blog today and I was having trouble. When a person has such a fantastic, famous, regularly updated, and popular blog, choosing a good topic i s a challenge. But worry not dear readers, for today I have decided to share the greatness of my blog. I will do this by mentioning a few of my favore websites.
My secret is out - I just want to share some cool websites I know about! OK, today, I'll start with the musical dance. Sorry for those on dial up, but these are big files - Oh, and mom. I've shown you these before.
extreme crew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bkk3Um1LkU
extreme break dancing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyxlaib9UF0
This post is also in premature celebration of finding a hobby while I'm down here - competitive ballroom dancing. The studio is nearby, but I still need to find out what the class schedule is.
My secret is out - I just want to share some cool websites I know about! OK, today, I'll start with the musical dance. Sorry for those on dial up, but these are big files - Oh, and mom. I've shown you these before.
extreme crew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bkk3Um1LkU
extreme break dancing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyxlaib9UF0
This post is also in premature celebration of finding a hobby while I'm down here - competitive ballroom dancing. The studio is nearby, but I still need to find out what the class schedule is.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Movies And Research
Current project: finding out how to rip a dvd and modify the movie. :-) One of the movies I could watch over and over is "50 First Dates". The only problem though is that the movie is very crude at times. Lovely, touching scenes one moment, and a crude joke the next that has no relation to the scene. Not even close to appropriate for family watching. Right now I just skip forward to my favorite parts, but I miss parts of the plot.
So I hatched my own fiendish plot: modify the movie so I don't accidently skip past the goodness of the movie. I'll keep everyone updated on my progress, and perhaps I'll move onto other movies? As long I keep it for myself, I *think* it's legal. Can anyone double check and let me know if it's valid for personal use?
but for now I really need to start researching for Katie. I have no clue why I'm putting off something I enjoy so much. Ooo. I should call my mom. She'll put me into the mood for research - or Katie! She'll have great ideas also. She's being a partner for team debate (NCFCA) so there are no bye rounds. I'll do some research right now!
So I hatched my own fiendish plot: modify the movie so I don't accidently skip past the goodness of the movie. I'll keep everyone updated on my progress, and perhaps I'll move onto other movies? As long I keep it for myself, I *think* it's legal. Can anyone double check and let me know if it's valid for personal use?
but for now I really need to start researching for Katie. I have no clue why I'm putting off something I enjoy so much. Ooo. I should call my mom. She'll put me into the mood for research - or Katie! She'll have great ideas also. She's being a partner for team debate (NCFCA) so there are no bye rounds. I'll do some research right now!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Fountain Pens
Today's big activity? I got to write with a proper fountain pen. The desk I recently got for work had office supplies still in drawers from the previous owners. Whoever owned it still had a fountain pen ( still in it's wrapper ), extra parts, and an ink well. It didn't take long to plan an outing. I first had to look up just what to do with the pen. I could take a guess, but the last thing I wanted was to spill ink on my desk. :-)
And now you are probably wondering the outcome of my dangerous experiments? My experiment failed miserably. It looks like the pen is clogged up with old ink. I tried cleaning it, but the pen just has to soak for a while. It's time will come. I will be victorious!
Now, I need to research for Katie a bit. Ah, debate. That's a relaxing way to spend an evening. Use stock issues Katie, use stock issues! Good luck.
And now you are probably wondering the outcome of my dangerous experiments? My experiment failed miserably. It looks like the pen is clogged up with old ink. I tried cleaning it, but the pen just has to soak for a while. It's time will come. I will be victorious!
Now, I need to research for Katie a bit. Ah, debate. That's a relaxing way to spend an evening. Use stock issues Katie, use stock issues! Good luck.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Floridian Joy
So far Florida has been a big bust. Two weeks of fun in the sun and my tan hasn't improved!
I've settled in pretty well. Most of my boxes are unpacked and everything is laying in ... organized ... piles on the floor. I've put all of my book on a chest and they are all lined in a row against the wall. My boss actually bought me a good book on hiking across China. ( Don't worry mom, I don't have any plans to do anything like that... for at least a year. ) The book is pretty good. It's more anecdotal with little on the actual traveling.
Subtly moving to a related topic - I went hiking Saturday! I wanted to do a 10 mile route but I wandered into the middle of a military exercises. It looked more like boot camp exercises. The troops didn't have the proper military feel to them. Since I was still on a public and open path ( the bombing range was over 3 miles away ) I went ahead and sat down and watched the gunfire, patrols, maneuvers, and ambush. I'm guessing I got there at a good time, because the last half of the grapefruit I was eating was spent watching troops patrol a perimeter. Unfortunatly, a grunt came over and asked if I needed anything, then politely asked for me to move to 50 feet past the border. Oh well, it was fun watching while I was there.
Ah, the time has gotten late, and I haven't even come close to starting my taxes. Toodles!
I've settled in pretty well. Most of my boxes are unpacked and everything is laying in ... organized ... piles on the floor. I've put all of my book on a chest and they are all lined in a row against the wall. My boss actually bought me a good book on hiking across China. ( Don't worry mom, I don't have any plans to do anything like that... for at least a year. ) The book is pretty good. It's more anecdotal with little on the actual traveling.
Subtly moving to a related topic - I went hiking Saturday! I wanted to do a 10 mile route but I wandered into the middle of a military exercises. It looked more like boot camp exercises. The troops didn't have the proper military feel to them. Since I was still on a public and open path ( the bombing range was over 3 miles away ) I went ahead and sat down and watched the gunfire, patrols, maneuvers, and ambush. I'm guessing I got there at a good time, because the last half of the grapefruit I was eating was spent watching troops patrol a perimeter. Unfortunatly, a grunt came over and asked if I needed anything, then politely asked for me to move to 50 feet past the border. Oh well, it was fun watching while I was there.
Ah, the time has gotten late, and I haven't even come close to starting my taxes. Toodles!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Forida and Expectations
Only another two weeks and I will be heading down to Florida. My boss is coming up this Thursday, and then driving back down with extra tables, computers, chairs... all the big things I won't be able to fit into my car.
I'll be taking our BBC (Big Black Car) down. It doesn't have great gas mileage, but since my major driving all year will be down to Florida and back, the total mileage will probably be less than if the BBC stayed at home for the year. Ben, my old apartment-mate, is probably going to come down with me. It will make for a bit less room and a longer trip, but the company will definitely be worth it. To counterbalance the bonus of a driving partner, I found out yesterday that my parents won't be driving down with me. They had been planning to come down for a while, but the closer it got, the less likely it became. Oh well, I guess that means I can come back to visit more often!
Ah, two weeks. Now that the time and date is set to head down, I wish I could head down right now and skip this waiting period, but then I start thinking about friends and family I'll see in the next two weeks and I know the delay is going to be a great blessing.
I'll be taking our BBC (Big Black Car) down. It doesn't have great gas mileage, but since my major driving all year will be down to Florida and back, the total mileage will probably be less than if the BBC stayed at home for the year. Ben, my old apartment-mate, is probably going to come down with me. It will make for a bit less room and a longer trip, but the company will definitely be worth it. To counterbalance the bonus of a driving partner, I found out yesterday that my parents won't be driving down with me. They had been planning to come down for a while, but the closer it got, the less likely it became. Oh well, I guess that means I can come back to visit more often!
Ah, two weeks. Now that the time and date is set to head down, I wish I could head down right now and skip this waiting period, but then I start thinking about friends and family I'll see in the next two weeks and I know the delay is going to be a great blessing.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Two Weeks After The Wedding
J & C's wedding was a wonderful affair. Everything went very well. If you go to my brother's blog, you can see full description of how wonderful it was. :-) I'm torn about my wedding responsibilities, At my younger sister's wedding, I was 'merely' the brother, and didn't need to be concerned for much other than playing the music right. As a groomsman at my brother's wedding, I had extra responsibilities and worries. I needed to pick the right pre-wedding music, keep J's nerves from getting rattled, entertain Jeremiah, and relay orders between people.
Pictures!
On a cute note, half way through the wedding, I was asking Jeremiah if he wanted to be carried.... or I just gave him a friendly pat... I'll have to check the wedding video, and he turns and gives a nice, proper punch in the leg. :-) It was so cute from my perspective, and then I though, "Oh no! What will they think? He was just being playful, but they may think he was being rebellious or something!!!" So I'll tell J and C: he was being playful. :-P
Ah, the end of the week. I'm busy doing finishing up details - one of which is blogging.
Now I must leave, I have a lot of things yet to do on my todo list! I've gotten an exercise ball. I've picked out a domain name for my website, now I need a gps, post pictures, e-mail sappy letters, find an electric piano, find a hiking route, find a karate teacher in FL, learn a desktop automation programming language.... and I'm only a third through my list!
Pictures!
On a cute note, half way through the wedding, I was asking Jeremiah if he wanted to be carried.... or I just gave him a friendly pat... I'll have to check the wedding video, and he turns and gives a nice, proper punch in the leg. :-) It was so cute from my perspective, and then I though, "Oh no! What will they think? He was just being playful, but they may think he was being rebellious or something!!!" So I'll tell J and C: he was being playful. :-P
Ah, the end of the week. I'm busy doing finishing up details - one of which is blogging.
Now I must leave, I have a lot of things yet to do on my todo list! I've gotten an exercise ball. I've picked out a domain name for my website, now I need a gps, post pictures, e-mail sappy letters, find an electric piano, find a hiking route, find a karate teacher in FL, learn a desktop automation programming language.... and I'm only a third through my list!
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Baptism
Today is the day little Christina gets baptized. We need to leave in another 2 1/2 hours. I'm not sure which church she's getting baptized at - my mom handled all the details. Dad, Mom, Margaret, and I will be heading down in one car, and I'm not sure how long we'll visit. I'm guessing we'll need to get back to the house fairly soon so we can prepare to head to Virginia.
In work related news - my boss came up for the week, and he's explained a little of what needs to be done. In summary: he's really busy in December and January so he can't keep up to us especially if we're a bit slow getting work back to him, the design work is a bit too interdependent on both of us working together and he's guessing it will stay that way permanently, and he needs to have us in Florida to keep this project going.
I'm heading to Florida!
I've given the house owner 90 days notice and I should be out of the house by January. Last summer, Florida was boring. This year, I'm going to do things a little differently. Since I'll be there a whole year, I'm thinking of signing up for karate classes during the week, go swing dancing on the weekend, read in my spare time, and upkeep a site for extempers.
In work related news - my boss came up for the week, and he's explained a little of what needs to be done. In summary: he's really busy in December and January so he can't keep up to us especially if we're a bit slow getting work back to him, the design work is a bit too interdependent on both of us working together and he's guessing it will stay that way permanently, and he needs to have us in Florida to keep this project going.
I'm heading to Florida!
I've given the house owner 90 days notice and I should be out of the house by January. Last summer, Florida was boring. This year, I'm going to do things a little differently. Since I'll be there a whole year, I'm thinking of signing up for karate classes during the week, go swing dancing on the weekend, read in my spare time, and upkeep a site for extempers.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Another Week and a Half
My brother is almost married! I'm heading down (with my mom) to his place until the wedding. After the wedding, my mom and I may stay around a bit, but with my brother and his wife away on their honeymoon, there won't be much to keep us busy.... after the wedding. A lot of family is coming down, so we'll be quite busy visiting until the big day. Almost all my aunts and uncles on my mom's side will be coming down... kind of a mini-reunion.
I'm looking forward to the visit and seeing Jesse... and seeing him married. I can't think of a good best man speech, so I probably won't give one. It would be nice, and I'll keep at it. Maybe I'll ask my dad for ideas.
I'm looking forward to the visit and seeing Jesse... and seeing him married. I can't think of a good best man speech, so I probably won't give one. It would be nice, and I'll keep at it. Maybe I'll ask my dad for ideas.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Thursday is a Work Day... maybe?
Nothing special about today. Work is going really slowly though. I had a total of 3 hours of work yesterday. Hopefully, he'll get the next assignment to me and I can get a full day of work finished. I haven't had a full day this week. :-( As much as I like the job, if I can't get 25 hours in a week, I'm not sure I can stay. My boss is coming up near Christmas, and he has a few things to talk about - some of which are hopefully 1) the next big projects for work and 2) going down to the main business to work; both of which would be VERY beneficial for hours worked.
I'm sitting here waiting for an e-mail for today's work, and I thought I would post my current thoughts on work. I tend to spread out work throughout the day - perhaps if I put in more effort to getting work done earlier in the day, my boss could get back to me faster. I'll try that today.
I'm sitting here waiting for an e-mail for today's work, and I thought I would post my current thoughts on work. I tend to spread out work throughout the day - perhaps if I put in more effort to getting work done earlier in the day, my boss could get back to me faster. I'll try that today.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Quick update
It's late but I wanted to get a short update completed. I had a wonderful weekend at home. My mom and I chatted a lot, dad showed me his bikes and magic tricks for the upcoming new year, and Margaret and I beat upon each other mercilessly... yes, it was a good weekend. I finished it off by coming back to the apartment and watching "Big Trouble in Little China". Oddly enough, I've seen it before - probably at a motel during a craft show. Think of a script put together in an afternoon, cast that evening and filmed the next day... that's the type of movie it was. Nothing made sense. It was a blast to poke fun at the movie!
Monday, November 13, 2006
Almost done
Whew! I've been busy the last few days. My boss leaves tomorrow, so I should be able to slow down just a little. Unfortunately, all the steam I've built up will die Wednesday as I spend most of the day in Butler. I have two appointments, maybe three. I'll be debating with Olivia and I need to get together with her to figure out the case, who's doing what speech, evidence... there is a lot to cover.
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