Just wanted to take a quick moment and wish my Mom, Randa, a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope you had a great one, Mom. I love you!

 
Windows 1.0 to XP: Screenshots
Maybe you just have to be a geek to appreciate the above link, but it's a walk down memory lane for me. Great screenshots show the slow evolution of Gatesware from 1985 (right before I started work at MicroAge Computers in Tulsa) to present. At various points in my life, I have used (or worked with) every single one of these operating systems (even Windows 286, which I had completely forgotten about.). I guess I've evolved over the years, just as Windows has. Donnie would say that Bill Gates has brainwashed me (he prefers penquins). But, to me, nothing else compares to Windows for pure usability and abundant killer apps. I do have to admit though, MacOS X is a huge advance forward for Apple, giving it a high "drool factor" as well. I've always said "I don't do fruit!", but I'd take a new iMac anyday.

Work on the new project is going well. The pace has definitely picked up, and I'm staying busy all day. They brought in 2 more techs today, who are doing the actual computer installations (software configuration and grunt work). They work for yet another outsourcing company; this one with offices in the Dallas area. I'm submitting a resume to their company tomorrow in hopes of picking up some regional contract work from them. Jason is coming up to Wichita Falls tonight. Starting tomorrow, he will be following behind the installers, catching the brunt of the complaints and questions from the users. We're actually having a good time, and making good progress too. It'll be particularly fun to add Jason into the mix.

Here's couple of photos from work. The first is the staging area. It's pretty much my "office" while I'm working for Carrier. It is also where the computers are configured. Here's James loading images on a few new Dells. Those are 1 GHz machines with 17" flatscreen monitors..pretty nice computers. The last shot is looking out of a window in the staging area down on one of the areas of the factory, where they have some seriously big machines that cut, drill, bend and shape sheet metal into housings for commercial HVAC units.

Amy's still hanging in there...trying not to dwell on how uncomfortable she is. All the bags are packed and ready to go whenever it's necessary.

I'm sure I'll be posting more over the weekend. Have a great Friday!

 
Baby Update
Amy went to the Dr. again this morning. He says that things are moving along well and that Griffin has dropped into a lower, head-down position. He explained to Amy that the pains she has been feeling lately are Braxton-Hicks contractions and are normal. He told her not to exert herself in any way, and to keep track of any recurring pains and their frequency. She's been moved to a once-a-week schedule, so she'll be back to see the Dr. next Tuesday.

We're getting close!

 
Good 1st Day
My first day working on the new project went quite well. It's really nice to be interacting with so many people again. The workload is interesting, but light. Jason is going to come join me on Friday to work as the post-install tech (I'm the pre-install tech). Not much else to say, I'm heading to bed.

 
New Photo Gallery Update
I finally got around to dumping some of the few pictures we have taken over the first 1/2 of February. Notice that it includes shots of both me and Amy resting/sleeping. We figured we better document it now, since I doubt we'll be doing much of either next month (or many months to follow). Sorry I don't have any better shots...I'll try to get some more as the month rolls on.

I spent a couple of hours at the MagicAire/Carrier/United Electric plant on Friday. I took the $0.10 tour and got a better idea of what was going to be involved in this project I'm going to be a part of. Looks like everything is right up my alley, and I'm looking forward to getting started tomorrow morning.

 
Film Sound Cliches
The above site is a list of stereotypes and common logic flaws of sound effects in movies. Wow...and I thought I was critical about continuity flaws..this guy is ruthless on the sound editors. I'll never be able to watch movies again without noticing at least one of these.

Another interesting site along a similar theme is The Movie Cliches List, which has tons of cliches grouped by topics such as Food, Villians and Bodily Functions.

"When you enjoy something, you must never let logic get too much in the way. Like the villains in all the James Bond movies. Whenever Bond breaks into the complex: 'Ah, Mr. Bond, welcome, come in. Let me show you my entire evil plan and then put you in a death machine that doesn't work'."
-- Jerry Seinfeld, "Sein Language"

 
Happy Valentines Day!
I hope that everyone is having (or had) a decent Valentines Day. I spent part of the day printing, copying, faxing and mailing all of my employment forms to this new company I'm going to be working for. It appears that they are under contract with Dell Computers to provide upgrades and customer support, so I guess I'll be inadvertantly working for Dell.

Amy and I took some time this evening to share some simple gifts with each other. Among the ones she game me, was a 25' long home-made card of linked hearts (I'll post the picture here soon), each one containing a different reason that she loves me. Everybody together..."Awwwwwww!". She's definitely the romantic in the family. I didn't do too bad myself, though, considering the budget we were working under (the half-dozen Winnie the Pooh kids Valentines were actually a hit). We did splurge tonight on a take-out dinner from our favorite local steakhouse. It was great to walk in there amongst the ~100 couples and families flowing out the doors, waiting on tables, and walk out with some tasty grub in less than 5 minutes! It was extremely good too...so much that I had to waddle like Amy to come in here and finish this entry.

Happy Valentines Day!!

 
Landed a new contract job!
It's only for a few weeks, but thanks to my friend James Doolen (of all people), I have landed a computer contracting job working at a Carrier plant starting this Monday. I'll be working with all of their old desktop computers in preparation for a mass upgrade of their systems. It'll be full-time work for at least a couple of weeks, and hopefully it will branch off into even more work after this project is completed.

It's not the ideal job, but it pays decent and it will get me back working full-time again...which I desparately need for my own sanity. Besides, it'll be fun to work on computers again, since I'm very secure with my knowledge and skills in that area. I've scheduled an appointment for Friday after lunch to tour the plant, and get a better idea of what I'll be doing during my time there.

 
Job Opportunities Looking Better
Well, after a very weak January, the job market in the N. TX area seems to be picking up. I've already applied for several openings today that come much closer to matching my previous work experiences. The past few months have had NOTHING even remotely related to my field, so it's good to be applying for jobs that I feel I better qualify for. Looks like it's going to be a pretty busy week...which is a good thing! I'll keep everyone posted.

 
I love this weather!
It's 66 degrees and sunny right now. Call it Spring Fever or whatever...but my mood has improved 100% in less than 24 hours. I'm loving this warm weather! Of course, I'm having all kinds of sinus problems from the constantly shifting temps and humidity...but I don't mind. Amy and I took some sandwiches out to the park this afternoon (just the two of us) for a short picnic. We both realize that we don't have much more time to spend simply as a couple, so we're trying to take advantage while we can and appreciate the quiet life that we've lived for the past 7 years. Things will never be the same again!

 
Doing my taxes!
I finally got all my forms and paperwork together and spent a good portion of this afternoon and evening working on my taxes. This year I'm using H&R Block's TaxCut software, since I have three W-2's, a 1099-Misc, a 1099-G and a 1099-R to deal with. This, along with 6 months of uncompensated work miles logged for my Intrepid made me realize that I wasn't going to be able to simply whip out a quick 1040A this year. I went with TaxCut because it was only $15, and was the companion tax product for Microsoft Money, which I use (TurboTax is the Quicken companion). They couldn't convince me to pay an additional $35 for Money 2002, even though it had a $35 rebate making it essentially free. Money 2001 still works fine for me. I've been impressed with TaxCut. So far, it's stepped me through a LOT of complicated forms that otherwise I would have had NO IDEA what I was doing. It's been particularly helpful when dealing with the business use of my car and home office..all that itemized stuff that I've never had to do before. I'm about 98% done. I only have the "Final Error Check" to go through. Thankfully, we don't owe anything, and it looks like we are going to get back a much needed refund. We can certainly put it to good use.

 
Blue Heeler Drives Truck Into Tree
Thank goodness not mine! So far, Flannel hasn't done this to me. I know that there were times when my friend Donnie, while on the road for AirCell, was nervous that Benny would pull a stunt like this while he was miles from anywhere, leaving him stranded. For those of you who are curious, Benny is 1/2 Rottweiler and 1/2 Cocker Spaniel and isn't nearly as annoying as I thought he was before we got Flannel. He traveled for almost two years with Donnie all over the U.S. in a Ford Expedition 4x4 (along with Stratus, the cat)...and never once crashed the truck. Good Ben!

 
Crash Course in Programming
I spent a good portion of the evening reading about ASP, PHP and Javascript coding for web pages. This blog has peaked my interest in programming again. I'll be stuck in the wireless industry permanently unless I can branch out into something new, so I'm going to learn as much about coding for the internet as possible. Next to anything medical, this is one of the few remaining fields that seem to still have high demand for new employees (in Dallas, at least). I know that my friend Nolan Isaacs is making quite the decent living in Addison doing ASP coding (just look at the cars he and his fellow employees drive). It's sad, too...since I was the one who first got Nolan interested in programming back in the early 90's when I was using Turbo C to modify and compile our WWIV BBS's. Speaking of The Mist (my old BBS)...Now that Google has 10+ years of newsgroups online, I found this BBS listing from Aug 1990, which shows that I was running a whopping 106 meg with a Hayes 9600 modem. Things have certainly changed a lot in a just over 10 years!

 
New Feature: Comments
You may now add your $.02 worth to any entry that I post simply by pressing "Comments". This will pop up a box and allow you to view and post comments for that particular entry. In between the brackets is the number of current comments for the entry. This feature allows the blog to be more of a 2-way medium, rather than me babbling alone.

Feel free to drop a comment anytime. You don't have to list your e-mail or webpage (or even name, for that matter) unless you want to. If nothing else, it lets me know if anyone out there is even reading this.

Have fun!

(thanks to YACCS for the free comment system. I was having NO LUCK using any of the public scripts I could find online.)

 
Snowing in Wichita Falls
After raining most of the morning (the dogs were SOAKED!), the weather had turned to snow by the time we got out of Amy's Dr. appointment. Big wet flakes! Unfortunately, it's about 36 degrees...so it's melting as soon as it hits a surface, rather than actually accumulating.

Amy's doc says that things are going very well. Based on today's examination and the recent ultrasound, Griffin is in a head-down position, heart looks/sounds good, amniotic sac is fine, activity level is good and length and size are still correct for his due date...we're still a go for March 11th. We go back in 2 weeks for her next exam.

 
Some Ads Score, Some Fumble
Speaking earlier about the Superbowl commercials...Above is a link to the Top 5 Best and Worst of the Bowl Ads (New York Daily News). I don't think I saw a single one of these! I really want to see the Bud salute to the Towers. Clydesdales are still my favorite horses, even if they're worthless for riding.

 
Cheap Entertainment
As I've said before, I'm pretty easily entertained. Late last night (O.K...early this morning), Amy and I spent about 1 1/2 hours playing a new game called "Guess the Body Part". The baby is finally getting big enough to actually see and feel through Amy's belly. He gets pretty active between 11pm and 1am. Amy will be reclined, reading in bed, when all of a sudden you see a little lump (or two) moving across her stomach. It like something from Aliens! T.R. has told me the story of Steve grabbing Steven's knees before he was born. Sure 'nuff, there are times when you can almost grab his little knees, feet or butt. He usually squirms away from the threat quickly, although he doesn't seem to mind much if you just "cup" his butt. We go back to the Dr. tomorrow morning for her regular checkup. Only about 6 weeks to go!

What an incredible time of our lives. We are so grateful for the good things that life has brought us, and hopeful that things will continue to get better.

 
Mom's at Mayo
As you go through your workdays this week, please join me in thoughts and prayers for my Mom, Randa, who is visiting the Mayo Clinic in Scottdale, AZ for her Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

If anyone this year asks you to sponsor them for the MS Bike tour or MS Walk, please give from the heart. Researchers are making great strides in medicine, but have yet to come up with any "breakthrough" cures for MS.

I love you, Mom. Good luck this week!

 
Sports on TV...yuck!
Sports fans just don't understand me. They can't imagine a life without football, basketball or baseball constantly on the television, radio, magazines and newspapers. Personally, I still could really care less. I'm sure that I'll actually root for the Sooners when Steven's playing for them, but that's the only reason I'd cheer for a sport...much less an Okie team (just kidding...don't hurt me!).

I'm sorry I missed out on Bob's big Superbowl bash this year...only because I miss seeing Becky and my buds...definitely not to watch the game. Instead, we ended up eating a delayed birthday dinner at Amy's Dad's for all of us who had birthdays in January (better late than never). They did have the game on in the background enough for me to see that things weren't looking that great for the Rams at halftime....but see, the rest of the game is still going on...and I don't care!

I did laugh quite hard at the new commercial for Lipton "Brisk" iced tea...the one with the little Danny Devito puppet (and all the other Lipton puppets). That's my favorite part. If they'd just run a 1/2 hour spot after the superbowl simply showing the commericials that premiered during the game...I'd be happy.

Anyway...for those of you "normal" people who do enjoy the games...I hope it went the way you wanted, and noone lost too much money!

 
Watching Movies
Amy and I spent the evening watching a couple of DVDs before they have to be returned to Hollywood Video tomorrow. Here's my brief thoughts on them:

Evolution: David Duchovny, the 7-Up guy, Julianne Moore. Ivan Reitman Film. X-Files meets Ghostbusters meets M.I.B. You've seen it all before...but it was still pretty watchable. Decent special effects on all types of weird mutated creatures, although you could still tell the difference between the CGI and latex characters. Suprisingly steady (and funny) jokes for first 2/3 of movie, when it slips into more of a "kill the alien" action mode. Short cameo by Dan Ackroyd as the Gov. of Arizona. I was really hoping to see Bill Murray or Harold Ramis show up at some point...but they didn't. Overall, not too bad.

The Glass House: Leelee Sobieski, Diane Lane and Stellan Skarsgard. This was advertised as a thriller, and it is a somewhat creepy, slightly twisted suspense movie. Of course, Amy thought it was entirely too predictable, which it was. But Stellan Skarsgard (American Beauty - boy next door's father) plays a pretty mean bad guy and Leelee Sobieski still reminds me so much of a young Helen Hunt. This one wasn't too bad either.

I guess it's a good thing I'm fairly tolerant of mediocre movies. Neither of these are going to win any awards, and I certainly wouldn't buy either one of these on DVD...but if you run across them on Cinemax or Showtime here in a few months, they're both decent enough to watch through once.

 
non se.qui.tur
Not to be left out of this geek thing that is blogging, my friend Bob has set up his own weblog, non se.qui.tur. He's got some great pictures of Jason flying the prototype of his new "Living Room Flyer", an ultra-small electric RC airplane. I'm going to have to go down to Lewisville soon...they're having entirely too much fun without me.

 
Groundhog predicts six more weeks of winter
Well, according to the CNN article above, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow earlier this morning in Pennsylvania...so it looks like it will be a while before Spring comes. Our thick-skinned Russian friend, Ludmila, seemed completely ecstatic about the news, although her husband Viktor is tiring of ice fishing and finds himself daydreaming of tropical islands. I'm with Vicktor...I can't wait for warm weather to return! Of course, as mild as it's been this Winter, Summer is liable to be a scorcher!