06.26.08
Posted in frustrations at 5:58 pm by david
I had to make time for this short post. I am working from home on Thursdays thanks to a great perk at work to help folks deal with the insane gas prices. That’s not the point of the post, though.
The Ark Democratic Party cold-called me this afternoon asking me, by name, for money to support Obama. Of course I told them “not a chance” (as I would tell most any politician), but it made me wonder…
What does it say about their supporters (or what they think about their supporters) that they expect them to be home in the middle of the day?
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06.22.08
Posted in miscellaneous, tech at 11:10 pm by david
Postings may be few and far between for little bit. I’m studying for my GSEC certification, and right now that means 2 to 3 hours of studying most nights (after I get done with work) while I go through 3000+ pages of material and 34 hours of lectures. It is an on-line, study-on-your-own format, but I only have until the end of September to complete it. So, I hope, sometime around the end of September I will have a blog posting announcing that I passed the 5 hour certification exam with flying colors. The material is divided into 6 sections and I have each section scheduled for completion at 2 week intervals. That will still allow me 2 weeks to review and prep for my first practice exam; 1 week after that to review weak points and prep for my second practice exame; I will then have just over 2 weeks to take the real exam.
So far the material has been very interesting; listening to lectures and reading supporting documentation for 3 hours at a stretch may not sound interesting, but I’m kind of a geek. (Surprise!) I completed the first section, which is one of the sections I was most worried about, and I feel pretty confident so far. There are about 25 assessments throughout each of the 6 sections and I have done pretty well on them so far (easily passing each on the first attempt).
Luke has been kind enough to let me bounce questions and ideas off of him at work as I get just enough knowledge of network administration to be annoying (that is 1 step more knowledgeable than just being dangerous, but a couple of steps from being truly useful). Of course, he did take vacation the last 3 days of last week, but I think that was just a coincidence.
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06.15.08
Posted in family, food, frustrations at 10:49 pm by david
It wasn’t quite what I imagined. I guess you could say my Father’s Day began at the stroke of midnight, since I was up. I was also up at the stroke of 1, 2, and 3. Yes, for Father’s Day my dear daughter got me the worst night’s sleep in months. She has been so good at sleeping lately — until last night. Jennifer took over for a few hours in the early morning so I got maybe 1 hour of sleep (in 15 to 30 minute spurts) up until 3:45 and then about 3 hours from then until 6:45. That pretty much killed the day for me. I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep in the afternoon while Jennifer prepared a very delicious meal for me and my parents, but it wasn’t enough and I still felt awful.
The meal that Jennifer prepared was quite excellent though:
- Sauteed tilapia with lemon-tarragon sauce
- Roasted green beans with red onion and walnuts
- Baked potatoes
- Salad
- Biscuits
- Carrot cake with cream cheese icing
[Update: I should add, in Anna’s defense, that she had gotten her first set of shots on Friday, so there is an excellent chance she was feeling a bit wonky.]
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06.11.08
Posted in family, frustrations at 10:58 pm by david
Please tell me other guys have been in this situation. Your baby is crying. You have done everything you are supposed to do: she isn’t hungry, her diaper is clean, she isn’t tired, she isn’t too hot or too cold, she doesn’t seem to have gas. She’s just crying. You try for a while (for us, that is 15-20 minutes) to calm her down to no avail.
Then mom comes along. She picks up your daughter and holds her just like you were holding her. And 10 seconds later (literally), your daughter is happy again.
And you want to shoot yourself.
Not really.
That would void my life insurance policy.
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Posted in frustrations at 6:08 pm by david
I love this comic because I have long thought that the sciences are taught backwards in most schools. Biology is a specialized form of chemistry, which, in turn, is a specialized form of physics. Yet, rather than start with physics, the foundation of the other sciences, schools start with the more specialized sciences.
(Click for full-size)
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06.10.08
Posted in tech at 12:11 pm by david
Apple announced the specs on the new iPhone. It is cheaper, smaller (physical dimensions), faster, larger (capacity). It had GPS built-in. And I’m still not buying. Why?
Let me tether already!
The Nokia I use as my work phone can “tether” to my laptop via bluetooth so I can use the AT&T EDGE network as my laptop’s Internet connection (yes, it would be nice if it were 3G). This gives me Internet access on my laptop wherever I have cell phone coverage. This phone is at least 2 years old, so this is hardly cutting edge technology. And yet, Apple/AT&T still don’t allow it on the iPhone. Until I can tether it to my laptop, it is going to be a very tough sell.
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06.09.08
Posted in animals, family at 3:41 pm by david
We went to Jennifer’s family’s reunion this weekend — 2 nights in Mountain View, 1½ hours from home. Sasha stayed at the boarder, so we had to have room for her, but not much of her stuff. So, we just had to pack for the 3 of us for 2 nights.
Are you kiddin’ me? What if we have to spend more than 2 nights somewhere? We’re going to have to take both vehicles. And, I’ll have you know, packing is one of my spiritual gifts, so there was no wasted space in there.
This isn’t even the final state of the back seat.
Everyone is recuperating from the weekend now. All 3 of my girls have been napping for the past hour or two. Actually, Sasha has been napping almost non-stop since we got home.
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06.02.08
Posted in church, family at 11:33 pm by david
No Bob Hope here, sorry. Anna’s god-father and 2 other men from our church are in Morocco participating in the Fez World Sacred Music Festival. They have a blog documenting some of the amazing experiences they are having. The pictures and stories are the blog are truly remarkable. Imagine walking among ruins that are over 2000 years old! And then there is the amazing write-up of their performance inside the gates of Medina! I can’t wait to hear all of the stories and see the videos when they get back!
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06.01.08
Posted in family at 6:21 pm by david
My New Favorite Compliment
A few folks, both online and in person, have commented that I certainly am a proud daddy. And I love it! I’m not entirely certain why, but I love it when people say I look like a proud daddy. Maybe it is because I am a proud daddy and I like that people can see that in the way I am around Anna.
Thought I’m Not Entirely Comfortable With
Anna is absolutely beautiful. There is no denying that. Despite this fact, a growing, though not unanimous, consensus thinks that Anna looks like me. This leads me to the uncomfortable conclusion that I would make a very beautiful girl. I mean, I did make a very beautiful girl. Well, we did. Umm, let’s move on, shall we?
944
This is the number of diapers currently in Anna’s closet. This does not count those in diaper bags or the open package in the changing table. Diapers are going up this year (estimated at $1 per jumbo package), so I am stocking up whenever Baby Cheapskate tells me to. I just wish we had a CVS around here. And hat tip to Jenny, on whose blog I found Baby Cheapskate.
11
This is the number of years we have been married, as of today. Something tells me that this year is going to be the most exciting one yet (the fact that we each slept though most of the afternoon notwithstanding). Happy anniversary, Babe! I love you!
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05.14.08
Posted in frustrations at 3:01 am by david
I was dreaming that my alarm was going off. At that same time, Sasha jumped up on the bed (because it was storming), waking me up. So, I’m now awake believing that my alarm has gone off. So I get up and get in the shower. About 5 minutes in I think, “Wait, did my alarm really go off?” So I peek out and look at the clock on the wall.
2:15 AM.
Crap.
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