March 2005 Entries

I came across this picture tonight...

Not too shabby. We did all the makeup by hand looking at the Kiss Alive album cover. We even won 1st prize for best costume!

That was one of the two times in my life that I shaved my mustache off. I scared Jamie (my daughter) to death and she wouldn't come near me until it grew back! I'm talking without the Kiss makeup!!!

I found a bunch of other old pictures from all the good times we had at NWA parties. I'll have to scan them all in and put them in an album for all to see.

I have decided that this is where I want to live...

In case you're wondering, it's Palm Springs, California. Probably not much demand for software developers there. Damn.

writing 700 line xml files by hand? Sucks. That is all.

This is a little late but, so what.

It sure didn't seem like Easter this year. Our kids are grown up now so...

• we didn't color eggs
• we didn't make them Easter baskets
• consquently, there was no Easter egg hunt
• and no baskets to be found

We did however, buy them each a card, some Easter candy, and of course, gave them some money.

We went over to Gayla's brother's house for dinner. They're kids are older too. They're teenagers. Holidays are definitely different when the kids are grown up. I know, I know, one day, not soon I hope! there will be grandbabies. Shut up.

I found this over at The Pub of Knowledge.

Take the Cool Test.

I laughed out loud.

So my sister was in town this past weekend. She's been wanting to do something for me to congratulate me on my graduation from college. We were going to meet her and her husband Will in Las Vegas but that didn't work out. Then we tried to get me out to Colorado for a visit and a weekend in their motor home, but that didn't work out either! So while they were in town this weekend they went out and bought me a new LCD TV for my bar! How cool is that?!!!! It's absolutely perfect and has an awesome picture! Check it out!

 

    

How's that for total coolness?

I've been procrastinating getting VoIP phone service for about 2 or 3 months now and I finally ordered Vonage service last Saturday. Now this little article surfaces. Well, I guess if the cable company offers VoIP I can just use their service. Hell, why not? Between the digital cable, the high speed Internet, the DVR, the extra boxes, the remotes, the cable modem, and in the future maybe the VoIP service, I just send one of my paychecks to them anyway!

Went to the gym again today and that makes three times this week. Nice job Big K! Woo Hoo! Sorry, I gotta pat my back or I'll stop going. :)

It's amazing how quickly your body reacts. Of course I'm sore but that's a good thing. But what I'm talking about is I already feel better. Really. For example, my knees were killing me whenever I would go up some stairs or bend down. That? has already gone. No kidding. Heck, if I keep this up, I'll have to create a “Workout” category for these posts! Hey. Maybe I will.

I've set up a forum at Big K's Forums for my very good friend Terry who was in an accident a couple of weeks ago. If you know Terry, you most likely know what happened.

The forum is a place for everyone who is concerned about him to get information about his condition and to communicate with others who are concerned about him too. Also, when Terry gets back online, he can communicate with all of us too.

The url is http://www.bigkspub.com/BigKsForums/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=26.

Please stop by and say “Hi”.

I tried to write this cool post about all the good times we had during Saint Patrick's Days gone by, but it sucked so I deleted it. What I was trying to say was, Saint Patrick's Day used to be my favorite “holiday”. It probably still is, but now I have to work. I'm a “grown up“. Sometimes I hate being a grown up. The really bad thing is, instead of having corned beef and cabbage for dinner tonight? which I love, I had Nachos Supreme from Taco Bell. Yuk. I know, I know. But that's what Gayla wanted. That's what Gayla got. Have a green beer for me!

 

 

REO Speedwagon is one of my very favorites. I picked up this double CD today along with a new set of headphones. It has all my favorites and then some. A few that come to mind are “Like You Do”, “157 Riverside Avenue“ and “Flying Turkey Trot”. I think that the last time I heard these songs I was playing an album. You know, a record. An “LP”. A “33”? Anyway, it's been awhile.

I think one of the reasons that REO is one of my favorite bands goes back to my honeymoon. Gayla and I went to Fort Lauderdale on our honeymoon and it was the first trip we'd taken since I started working at Northwest. We were so young that we couldn't even rent a car so we had to take a cab from the airport to our hotel. It was funny because as we were driving down this area called “The Strip” the cab driver was telling us that we needed to stay away from that area because “so many bad things happened there”. As it turned out, that's the place to be when you're young and in FLL!

Anyway, we finally got to our hotel and it was about 2am. I turned on the TV and found “Don Kirshner's Rock Concert”. Come on, it was 1979 ya know. And there they were, REO Speedwagon playing “Back on the Road Again”, another one of my favorites, up close and personal. For some reason, I was just mezmorized by this performance. I couldn't take my eyes of the TV. As a matter of fact, when we got home, I went out and bought a guitar and started taking lessons! I still love that song and every time I hear it, it takes me back to that moment.

I went back to the gym today. Woo Hoo!! The first time in, oh, I don't know. A YEAR OR SO!!! For me, the hardest part of working out is going that very first time. I don't know why, it just is. Plus, I'm in such bad shape, that I was afraid to go. No, not because I look so bad that I'd be embarrassed. But because I was afraid I'd have a heart attack or something while I was there. I can see it now...

I'm on the treadmill and, Boom! I'm gone. The treadmill is still going so it just shoots me off the back end right into the big window in front of the gym breaking the glass and making all kinds of noise. But that's not the worst of it. I mean, I'm dead, what do I care about the window and the noise? It's the stories afterward. The ones like...

“Dude. You won't believe this. I was at the gym today? And this old guy? Died. Right on the treadmill. Really. It was awesome.”

Well ha ha to that guy! I went. And I didn't have a heart attack! And I walked on the treadmill. I lifted weights. And I even road the stationary bike for awhile. I will probably not be able to get out of bed in the morning but right now? I haven't felt this good in, oh, I don't know. A YEAR OR SO!!!

And now? I just gotta keep going.

I've been trying to change my eating habits lately. I say lately but it's really only been in the last few days. Well, that is, if you don't count all the other times I've tried. :) I've actually done ok considering we haven't gone shopping yet this week so there really isn't much healthful food in the house.

One of my really bad habits is eating popcorn at night while watching TV. I know, popcorn, in and of itself, is not that bad for you. But, how good is popcorn with nothing on it? I think you get my drift. Can you say butter? And lots of it! Otherwise, what's the point? Right? So last night I was sitting there watchin' TV and of course, I was hungry. I caved. I caved hard! Within seconds the bag was in the microwave and Kody was waggin' his tail cuz we were havin' corn baby! I'll jump back on the wagon tomorrow. Or the next day. Or Monday! Yeah, Monday. The first day of the week. That's a good day. Jeesh, no wonder I'm in the worst shape of my life. But that's another story.

So when the popcorn is done, Kody and I head back to the boob tube. Biting down on the very first piece, I heard the loudest crack! You guessed it. My tooth. Cracked the sucker nearly in half! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! I hate the dentist! And to top it off? what's left of the tooth? is mostly filling so I'm probably looking at a crown! Great. Just great! And I didn't even get to eat the popcorn! I was so upset I just went to bed. Now I have to eat on one side and try and keep my drinks away from that tooth. Good luck with that! I actually found myself this morning leaning my head to the left while I was drinking. Real smart Einstein.

So getting back to the title of this post, the moral of the story is, stay on your diet and you won't crack your tooth!

Later, I gotta go to the dentist.

SDE/T stands for “Software Development Engineer in Test” which is an automated testing position at Microsoft. I really like this post (and most everything else The Braidy Tester has to say!) that describes what a great SDE/T is. These are precisely the reasons why I got into testing in the first place. That and to move into a developer position. Would I make a great SDE/T? I think in time I would come close.

Tell me why I left testing again?

So I just quadrupled the RAM in my computer. I went from 256 MB to a gig. Wow, what a difference! I'm running a web server, a mail server, and an instance of SQL Server so if I did anything else it would really bog down. I have a quandary though. I bought two 512 MB chips that run at 400 MHZ and the 256 meg chip that I took out is a few years old and only runs at 266 MHZ. I'm pretty sure that the memory will only run at the lowest chip's speed so I decided not to leave the 256 meg chip in. Was this a good decision? If I put the 256 meg chip back in, will the added memory outweigh the slower speed? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone? It just seems so crazy to have 256 megs of RAM sittin' around doin' nothing.