Guitar Hero III - One Married Couples Story

I can officially say that my wife and I love playing Guitar Hero III. I've admitted it, now what to do.

Probably the single biggest reason I haven't posted anything this week is the Mrs and I have been playin GHIII until 'There are blisters on me fingas!' No real blisters, but Co-op Career mode makes for a great husband and wife activity.

This week, we got to the final song set of medium and its kicking our butts! Word on the street, it is just that hard. Stay tuned! We will conquer this yet!

Work has been coming along and I'm learning A LOT! No more getting lost in the hospital and I've got this shuttle thing down pat. Yesterday, I even tried to branch out our transportation options. We parked the car in a Park & Ride lot and I caught the bus for the ride home. Worked out pretty well. I could save even more gas if the parking lot wasn't two miles away from home. Not exactly a distance I want to walk in the summer with a coat and tie on.

One of my long time co-workers at my old job, and a very good friend, was diagnosed with breast cancer. I've known her and her husband since I started at that job. Thankfully, we found out that her surgery went well and they are pretty sure they got it all. Whew! We are just keeping her in our thoughts for speedy recovery!

Tonight is my hometown's big St. Patrick's Day dinner. Another confession: I am a former King Erin. Every year, the Irish of my hometown pick a king that reigns for one year. I was the king for a year. Tonight, they are honoring the past kings. Should be fun. The kids are really excited because they get to spend the night at Grandma's house and wake up after a 'sleep over!'

Éire go brách!

I'm working on the rest of the series of posts The Season of Politics - History, Ground Rules and Decorum. I've really liked researching the subject I plan on writing about. As the election draws nearer, hopefully, everyone who reads this will get off the tuckas's and vote! Like I've said before, you can't bitch about anything, unless you vote. Our lives depend on it!

How about a big Thank You!

Earlier today, I noticed an email from Charlie Blockhead with the subject line of my last post. "Oh great, more comment spam," I thought to myself. I better go read what it says and delete it if its offensive or too stupid.

What's this? I've been what?

Big thanks to Father of Five for nominating my blog for "Best Daddy Blog."

Click here to find out what this means and what is left to do!

Again...Thanks Father of Five!

The Season of Politics - History, Ground Rules and Decorum (Part 1)

Welcome to the Season of Politics also known as Presidential Election Year.

For many of you, this season comes around once every four years and is very short. I understand your trepidation. I also hope that you realize our lives are stake and will participate with energy and enthusiasm. No, seriously, our LIVES are at stake.

The purpose of this posts is to set some back story, ground rules and define proper decorum in a political conversation. I hope to explain why politics is important to me and hopefully, it will become something that you consider important enough to learn about. I don't care if you are a Republican or a Democrat as long as you care and voice your educated opinion by voting and participating. Again, our LIVES are at stake.

Let's get one thing straight from the beginning, I will never be offended if you disagree with me as long you defend you argument well.

What do I mean by this? Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but if your rebuttal is that you are right because I'm wrong, I will rhetorically rip you to shreds. The negation of one argument does not prove another. Also, no matter how much anecdotal evidence you have, you still have not proven your argument. There is an old joke in debates. How many anecdotes does it take to prove a point? (That's the joke, sorry if its really not all that funny). Anecdotes are NOT proof. Only stories and hearsay about what people interpret as happening.

I enjoy an argument that is well founded, well researched and articulated clearly. Most people think of arguments as angry hostile altercations. A disagreement is not a bad thing. It is through discourse of our differences that we change the future. Feel free to disagree with me at any time. Just do it in a way that doesn't make you look like an ass.

This political season looks to be as nasty as ever. The Democrats are racing into their convention with no clear primary winner. This ain't gonna be pretty.

Once people get to know me, they learn that politics, and in particular, the study of the U. S. Constitution (the document, not the boat) are very important to me. They are the cornerstone of our society and more importantly, the basis for our freedom.

Signs of spring

Look! Dairy Queen is open! Its 20 degrees outside today, but this is a
sure sign of spring.

A night at the theatre

Working Title

I started blogging a while back. I'm not really sure why, but I think I did it because I have lots of things to say. I have an opinion on everything. I really do, just ask my family.

Something I discovered after blogging a few months is that I think it really helps your writing skills to force yourself to write all the time. I'm not sure if this is just me wishing it to be true, but I think my writing has improved in all of my posts since the first entry to today.

Lately, however, I feel I've been neglecting my writing. I actually found myself at work today think hard about writing. About doing this post. I found it strange to be thinking and wishing I could be writing. I actually missed writing. I never would have thought that 20 years after taking college composition, I'd look forward to and wish I had more time for...writing.

My first two weeks at my new job, I really forced myself to do some writing everyday. I really felt in the zone. Since then...I've been missing this.

So what's been going on?

Work is going very well. I've learned a lot! I've been really worried since starting there that I'm in over my head. Its a confidence thing, but more recently...I'm getting that confidence back. I think I may actually contribue something!

Guitar Hero III - This game is AMAZING! My wife and I really love this game. Kids go to bed, the axes come out and Mom and Dad jam it out. Last night, we finally made it past Santana - Black Magic Woman.

Mom and I have also tried to spend more quality time with the girls. We both been so busy, we sometimes forgot to just laugh and play with the kids. This week, we've been playing video games as a family and board games. Its so nice that both of them are old enough to enjoy this.

I really want someone to explain to me this whole global warming thing. I have to walk .7 miles to and from my car everyday. Its March and I'm freezing my a$$ off EVERY FRIGGIN' DAY! I want global warming back. Does anyone know where it went???

I'll be working on some political/legal/issue posts in the next couple of weeks. The election is heating up and I can't wait to chime in. Also, the RIAA and the MPAA are starting to get the just dessert in the courts system. I'm sure I can piss someone off...that's what blogs are for right?

Ah, I've done some writing. I missed this. I feel better now.

iTunes Meme

Thanks Kaja for the cool meme. I had to wait until I could get back to work, this is where I listen to music the most.

Instructions: Open up your iTunes and fill out this survey, no matter how embarrassing the responses might be.

How many songs total: 18,661
How many hours or days of music: 53.5 Days
Most recently played: The Thin Ice - Pink Floyd
Most played: Spirits in the Material World - The Police
Most recently added: Where Are You Tonight (Journey Through Dark Heat) - Bob Dylan

Sort by song title:
First Song: The A-Team Theme Song - [Not sure how that got in here]
Last Song: 99% - Soul Asylum [gotta love a good MN band!]

Sort by time:
Shortest Song: 5 sec - And That's the End of the Ballgame - Jock Rock, Vol. 1
Longest Song: 23 min 29 sec - Echos - Pink Floyd

Sort by album:
First album: Abacab - Genisis
Last album: 9 1/2 Weeks Soundtrack

First song that comes up on Shuffle: Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now) - Cracker

Search the following and state how many songs come up:

Death - 39
Life - 318
Love - 1181
Hate - 71
You - 2121
Sex - 86

I think I have a music problem. My goal for a while has been to collect every song ever recorded. Couple more hard drives to go and I think I'll be there!

Can't think of a busier time

Its been awhile since I got a chance to sit down and do some writing. All I can say is "Whew!" that week is done!

We had our Pampered Chef party on Wednesday night. That went pretty well. We had one couple show up. The really well part was they brought their kids. There daughter and Ash are about the same age. Well, the other really well part is we all had lots of good food to eat. If you are in the market for Pampered Chef, just let KT know.

With that out of the way, I spent the rest of Wednesday playing in the Mookie. My favorite online poker tournament. No big finish this week, but I did make it to the final 3 tables. Better luck next time!

Thursday night was spent getting ready for the big poker night at our house on Friday night. We needed to prepare for 26 rounders to descend upon our basement. There's lots to do in preparation for a poker tournament. This was the last night to get ready for it.

Thursday and Friday were also big days for me at work. These were the first days I got to spend a lot of time in the department that I'll be writing and maintaining code for. This is exciting work. The department I work for cures cancer using radiation. Absolutely amazing work and amazing people. Thursday was so much fun for the simple reason that outside of lunch, my entire day was scheduled out.

Friday was all about the tournament. How fun was it? Not sure what everyone else thought, but I had a blast.

Yesterday was spent going to the Twin Cities to visit a sick relative. The Mrs also got some some shopping in. Em and I had a great time. Miss Muffin and my wife were shopping at the Baby Superstore so we took a chance and headed next door to Best Buy. This particular one has a fantastic demo room. In this room was a $5000 projector showing Ratatouille. I love that movie! We got to watch most of the movie in there. We actually forgot to look for what we said we were going to do there...bad Daddy!

Mom knew I was pretty tired from the night before. Heck, I got most of the stuff cleaned up before going to bed. She agreed to allow me to only drive half way home from the cities. A good thing since I started head bobbing just a bit before there. Since Miss Muffin was with us, she really wanted to sit in the passenger seat. What the heck, I've never sat in the back while the kids watched a movie. Ash talked about how cool it was to have Daddy in the backseat all day today. She giggled for about the first 5 minutes after we headed back down the road. I love being a Dad.

Today was the first warm day here in Southern MN in a long, long time. It was in the 40s today! So we sent the kids out to play in the water while I attempted to find my office again. When I quit my job of ten years, I brought home 10 years worth of crap from my office. Ugg! As of right now, I can actually work at my desk here at home. Fantastic!

Night everyone! Oh! Before I go...check out the new look of my poker blog!

And this one?

Like my hat?

Thanks Zooks!

Thanks Zooks! This was pretty cool! The strangest thing, there are two people here at the new job with my same name. By the looks of it, there aren't really that many of us nationwide either.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 321 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

The Dawn of a new day

I'm a computer programmer deep down. It's what I do. After 2 weeks of the new job, I got my first assignment to actually write code today! Yipee!

The last two weeks, I've spent my time reading code, watching programs run and studying databases. Pretty non-thrilling stuff, even for a geek. It will feel great to get back in the saddle and write something. This other stuff I have been doing is very important to learn, it's just not as much fun. Remember, work is all about fun...right?

Our oldest spent the day on the couch today. I know when she's a teenager, that will be nothin new, but she's 8. She just can't sit still all day. Now, she pretty sick with the crud. Thankfully Mom was able to stay home today. I haven't accrued any PTO (paid time off) yet so I don't know what we'd do if I needed to stay home.

Lots to do at our house. We have a Pampered Chef party Wednesday night, if you are interested, let me know and a poker game on Friday night. Looks like that will be a pretty full house. We have 17 confirmed already! That doesn't count the 3 verbals I've received. I'm getting a little worried about this. I have accommodations for 20. 6 if we use the dining room table. We've never had over 2 tables so this should be interesting.

Must fold laundry. Must stop writing. Seacrest Out!

A full weekend for Dad

This was one of those weekends that makes you grateful to go back to work, even though I'd rather be taking a nap.

Friday night was Dad's whiskey club meeting. Yep, I had a night out with the guys. If you aren't familiar with this, I belong to a whiskey club. In this little organization, we get together once a month and try a whiskey, scotch or bourbon that you wouldn't normally try on your own. Once the first glass is poured, we settle in for a night of poker and laughter. The wives don't seem to mind this night out. It costs about $15 for the booze and poker. Not too shabby. Since I'm not much of a hard liquor drinker, I do a lot of sipping and then switch to beer. Usually its about 4 drinks in 6 hours. Wow! Now that's partying like college kids!

Saturday morning, Bodie25 and I took the kids to the free movie at the Chateau Theater. Monster House was playing. This movie is a lot of fun for the kids. If you haven't seen it, think Nightmare on Elm Street for grade schoolers. Its always fun when the kids get together. I also got to make a good home cooked meal for my working girl. Mom was working, so when she got home, stuffed pork chops and baked potatoes were ready to go.

Today, there was no rest for the wicked or Dad. Mom had TONS of homework to do today, so she arranged for us to drive to our hometown and see some of the Grandparents. I was pretty tired, but I know she needs the time to get some stuff done. Em and Dad did get to play some Super Mario Galaxy and my parent house. Em just loves that game and I like how challenging it is. That's a win-win! I also couldn't resist the urge to bring out Guitar Hero III. For some reason, it wasn't that big a hit with my folks. Go figure!

This is gonna be an interesting week at my new job. This past week, I got some little tastes of the department I'll be servicing. Late this week, I'll be immersed in there world and get to see first hand what the Doctors, physicist, technicians and nurses do every day. I'm pretty excited about this. I find it really inspiring to know that the software I'm writing and fixing saves lives and cures people that might normally have no hope. I've never known that feeling before.

Have a happy Monday!

Evening therapy

I had been trying to post everyday, but yesterday was Wednesday, which is also Mookie day for poker bloggers. This is a regular tournament held every Wednesday. Well, for the 3 time in a little less than 2 months, I went really deep and finished third. You read more about that here.

---

I starting to feel a bit more comfortable at work. I'm getting to know my co-workers and find my way around better and better.

The last two days I've been getting to spend a little time each day going down to the department I'll be supporting. As a software guy, my office is kept far away from the people I write for. This is done to help keep a small wall between us. A problem that will commonly arise with the programmer being close is that we often become the tech guy for an area. You mouse doesn't work, talk to the geek over there. Well, with us solving all the little problems, we never actually get time to write code. Never good.

Spending time observing them in their work area help put into focus what it is they do. When I understand their job, it helps me do my job. I have to make lots of choices every day. These kinds of days help me do that better and better.

The people I work for do amazing things and give people hope for a life without cancer. It will be an honor to make their jobs easier to help people.

---

At the home front, we really been hitting the video games hard.

For Christmas in 2006, the girls and I bought Mom one of those little games you plug into the TV. The one we got was Ms Pac Man, Galaga, Pole Position and few other games. For some reason, Mom was never in that big of a hurry to open it. Well, this week, with the power of the rest of us, we got her to let us open her present and plug it in. Wow...is that fun! Even our little one loves it! Em, she's been getting past the first level of Ms Pac Man more and more regularly.

This game just added one more level to the fun. We also have Guitar Hero III. I know why people love this game. I look forward to playing it everyday! Tonight, we got Mom to try it. Things around this house might not get done anytime soon. If you haven't played this game...you need to give it a try! Rock on!

HEY! Spell Checker works again!!!!!!!!

Let's Everyone just stay calm!

I returned to work today and got to experience the walk from my youngest daughter's daycare to work. It took 20 minutes. Any southerners out there? You can write this down...I was freezing this morning! It was -5° this morning. Dress pants aren't as warm as you'd think.

At work, the guy I'll be working with is on vacation. My team lead is meetings all morning and my department head was at different meetings. Cool! I'll be by myself and just get to read, except whats that sound breaking my beautiful silence? Is that my phone? I wonder who would call me? Hello, this is OhCaptain. Well hello help desk. You've got a user that having trouble with the software I'm supporting? And you want me to what? Help? Please hold. HOLY CRAP! I'm on day 7 and we haven't actually got any of this yet. [back on the phone] I tell you what. Email me the details and I'll see what I can do.

Did I mention that my entire chain of command is gone? Thankfully, I've been down a similar road a knew exactly what to do. I went to the closest person to my stall and asked for help. Whew. He didn't know what to do, but if I can stall and find out more information, he'll find someone that does. We both succeed! Crisis overted!

That certainly made for an interesting morning. We followed that up with my first team meeting. It was nice to see everyone on my team. It all went pretty well, even the laughs about how the new guy got thrown into the fire. I'll take that one in stride. I learned a lot in just a short time.

OhCountess (aka The Mrs) felt bad and called to let me know she was coming to get me and take me back to the van and OhPrincess2. You see, its still not warm here. She plans on taking me to work in the morning as well. The forcast for tomorrow? -10°s; for the morning walk. Brrr! Thats cold even for me!

Chapter 6, Page [Page #]

I'm giving up the whole title motif, but I did go to work today.

Work is going well. Today marks the first time I went from my desk to the cafeteria and back and get this...I didn't get lost! When you work at the largest hospital in just about any where, you'll quickly find out just how easy it is to get lost.

I'm a major geek. Look at the title of this blog. The entire floor I work on is geek heaven. You can hear a pin drop in here. Just about everyone here uses headphones to listen to music.

My music collection is pretty large. At my last job, I only had a few gigs of music. I could store the music on my work computer. With this new job, I've decided to do something different. I went out and bought a Western Digital 250GB Passport drive. These things are great! Best Buy had them on sale last week for $129. An amazing price for one of these. I loaded it up with every song I have. Sweet!

Today is President's Day. Quite a few people I work with were gone today. Normally, this would mean you get lots done. Too bad I'm new. I still need lots of help just finding the bathroom.

---

G, I couldn't agree more. The girls here won't start the dishwasher unless its full and there are no more dishes in the cupboards. Usuaully, I get home, run the dishwasher, empty it, and filler up again. Ugg!

---

FOF - I've looked at the whole satellite radio thing and I'll be honest, I think I'd love it. I just can't convince the Mrs. I need a subscription. I think I'd really like it.

---

Time for some Guitar Hero III! Everyone who knows the joy of ringing ears and neck pain from back in the day needs this game....ROCK ON!

Something beautiful to start the day

For people that live in the south, this is probably something you've
never seen before. I believe they are called "sun dogs". They look like
rainbows on the horizon next to the sun. This picture doesnt do them
justice. Enjoy!

Saturday night ain't what it used to be

Ah, it Saturday night. The kids are sleeping, the wife is out with the girls and absolutely NOTHING is on television. Thank goodness for a raging blogging addiction. I shall rant and write and laugh a sinister laugh to myself. Mooowaaaaahhhaaaaaa!

---

Chapter 6 of my life continues. I'm starting to settle in to my new job. You've read the posts (or should have...they are below this one silly). Thursday and Friday I was so tired, no posts, but nothing much to write about. I'll admit it here...I got lost in the basement of the hospital. I felt like the guys in Spinal Tap (if you love this movie, let me know!).

---

Tonight, the house is quiet. The kids are sleeping. The intertubes are filled with blogs that needed reading. One thing I've noticed, the ladys seem to out number us Dads when it comes to personal/family blogs. Hmm. Wonder why? I actually have no idea. It might be I just haven't found them. But what I do know, I'm out numbered in my own home. It's 4:1 girls to boys in this house. I maintain my manliness by upping the methane output and teaching my daughters the wonders of a deep down belly burp. Yes, my daughters are learning to burp on demand. Get over it. Dads of bloggerville...let me know you are out there!

---

In my 38 years of orbiting the sun, I've learned a few things about how to live in the presence of women. One thing I've learned, they won't change. Men will change cause...well...we get horny. Women, they don't change.

I'm, by my nature, lazy. I look for ways to avoid doing unecessary work. My Mom, bless her heart, tried for years to get me to clean up after myself. The poor woman eventually just gave up and most considered me a lost cause. Now let me reassure you, I'm still not a neat person, but I've also learned that if I pick up after myself, I avoid doing future work. Yes, I believe you can learn to be lazy and neat.

The kitchen in our home is my domain. I am the usual cleaner of the kitchen. I hate to cook when its messy. Not because I don't like disorder, but I can't find stuff or space to work and that's a problem. I grew up working in my Dad's restaurants. I actually like cooking. Here's my first major complaint...Do all women just leave there crap around the kitchen? The woman in this house REFUSE to put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher. They just put them on the counter above it. How hard is it to just put them in? We got the dishwasher that actually washes the dishes. No rinsing necessary. UGGG! Being lazy means I don't want to have to do it later...just get it done!

The biggest problem we have in our house is that people refuse to put things away when they are done with them. Being lazy means I don't want to create more work for later. Put it away when you are done.

The food containers that need to go to recycling get rinsed in our house and then are destined for a paper sack in the garage. The woman of this house will rinse said recyclable and then, wait for it, wait...LEAVE IT NEXT TO THE SINK! Yes, I've heard the excuse.

I was running late for work! I didn't have time...

to take this item into the garage where the car is I'm about to drive. I didn't have time to drop an item into a bag that's on my way out of the house. Poppycock! You just don't understand how to be truly lazy.

I love the woman in my home. I'm just tired of watching them make clutter and then complain to me the house is messy. Why do women believe that they men must always change? With as much time they spend looking in the mirror, you'd think...I'll be quiet now.

---

You see tonight, I've got no distractions and seemingly and endless supply of time. G over at "it's not about the badge" seems to be upset about Amy Winehouse's recent running up of the Grammys. I set a personable best for the longest comment on someone else's blog! Kudos to me! This easily surpasses my previous longest comment, the holiday classic from Nap Warden's contest post. Not sure the rebutle to G's post is as funny as the contest rendition of a holiday classic, but it was sure fun to write.

---

I recently acquired two new games for the Wii. These are the first games purchased with only Dad's desires in mind. The Simpsons Game and Guitar Hero III. I've tried GH3 before. I sucked at it (no, really. I was a champion air guitar in my own mind, but this game seems strangely different). I'll be posting some reviews of them real soon.

---

It's much too late and I'm much too punchy to still be going. Night all!

Chapter 6, Page 3

Orientation is so draining. I'm BEAT!

To your left, my new "Stall." That is apparently the vanacular of the people in my work area. Today was the day I was introduced to my new co-workers. If you look at the back...it's a window! Yeah!

My brain is moved past mushy and into just plain squishy.

I tried out the cafeteria today. Nummy! They had MEAT LOAF! And not the lounge act. It was really good.

I'm still trying to sort things out. More clarity later.

Chapter 6, Page 2

Page 2! (Anyone else listen to Paul Harvey?) I currently live in an area of the U.S. known as Radio Hell. If its music you are looking for and can't stomach county, don't come here. We have a bad Pop station and a classic rock station with about 20 songs in its rotation. Why am I telling you this? I don't know. What do I know? I'm very tired.

Today the first great challenge was to find a way to get to the meeting room using your own transportation. This is an interesting challenge and I think its good to make the new hires figure out what they are going to be doing for parking. For me, this exercise provided no real value since...my office is on the other side of the campus. My office building is 11 blocks away. I opted for the easy way out, I had the Mrs give me a ride and drop me off.

I think if I had one suggestion for my new companies New Employee Orientation it would be to move the respect, tolerance and harrassment portion to day 1 and save benifits and payroll to day 2. There wasn't a lot of excitement in the room for the second half of today. We did get a giggle for the some of the examples. Why do the examples need to be some bleedin obvious? One example, the guy made a comment to a female co-worker. His comment included a reference to Ragnar - the god of Love. Oy vey (I prefer my good friend Paul's definition for that term...it yiddish for Uff Da - hehe).

We did get to let loose a fire extinguisher today. I've never actually fired one off. That's so cool! Now if they'd only let us use explosives, we'd be set!

Lunch today wasn't nearly as good as yesterdays. Not that it was bad, it was actually quite good. But compared to that lasagna from yesterday, cold meat sandwiches just are a bit of a let down. The lasagna was that good.

At the end of the day, they divided the group up. RN's on one side of the room and the other 10 of us on the other side. Wow. At this point, our supervisors show up. Since my office is 10 blocks away, mine figured it was too late in the day to head back to the office, I could just go home! Sweet! My ride expects me to be done in an hour and I'm at an assisted living building. Oh boy! While I spent the last two days in the conference room without wi-fi...sure enough, in the lobby - WE'VE GOT WI-FI! This geek's iPhone is now cooking with gas and surfing the web.

Tomorrow morning, I actually start learning about my new job. These will be the people I'm actually going to be working with. I'm actually more nervous about this than I ever was the last 2 days.

Thanks for the encouraging words Nellie and Zooks! I really appreciated them.

I must get some sleep now.

To K & G: Remember this?

I was going through some old pictures tonight and found this. This is from K & G's wedding. You guys had the most beautiful flower girls I've ever seen!

Chapter 6, Page 1

It was a cold, windy winter day in Rochester. The kind of day I wish I had the voice of Harry Kalas.

Today marked the beginning of the next chapter in my life. I started my first day with the new employer. Having spent the last 10 years at a very small company, I'd never really experienced the first day of orientation like this. You see, if you employ ~30,000 people, more than one person starts their new job each week. If your current count of employees starts with a tilde (~ : in mathematics means approximately) , that means you have more than 10 employees.

Orientation is kind of a weird thing. There are about 75-100 people here and for all us, this our first day. Everyone that isn't a PhD or MD goes through this process. At my table are two nurses (interestingly both males from the same college in Illinois), a physical therapist, a pharmacist and myself (never took a college biology class - prefers the real sciences ;-).

The attempt to get everyone to mingle. This is kind of odd to a comp sci major. We do end up chatting amongst ourselves to help ease the tension, but its obvious that other people are much more into this mingling business than others.

We start by learning about the [Employer Name]'s Way of Patient Care and learning about the founding of this fine institution. I found all of this very inspiring. They help to drive home the idea that all of us in the organization contribute to the overall care of every patient. Even us geeks.

The rest of the day, we start learning about the horror of parking problems (remember ~30,000 employees -> 9,000 parking spots). I've taken college math classes, this ain't good. I have about 12 years before I'm parking elidgable.

We took a bus tour of most of the downtown campus. This was sort of cool. I got to hear some of the history of the buildings, but having lived in this town for 5 years, I did see to know the names of the buildings better than the tour guide.

We had a fantastic lunch of lasagna and well, I'm picky, I had the lasagna and the breadstick and some carrots. The rest looked new. I don't eat new.

The afternoon was all about the benifits. I learned a bit here. Some of was rehashed for me since the Mrs has be providing the benifits for the last 5 years, I'd pretty well figured out a lot of them. It was nice to finally here from someone other than Mrs though. She had a couple of things wrong, but for the most part...she's got them down.

Tomorrow will be the first day I'm required to find my own parking. This is gonna suck. I really have no idea what I'll be doing. Maybe I'll just quit and turn professional in my poker career.

When you are here

You are family!

Happy Birthday G!

To everything, there is a season

I haven't really posted much lately. Some of you know, my life, it is changing.

My wife grew in home that was in constant change. She thrives on change and in some ways, needs change to feel normal. I grew up in a home with near pefect consistency. My parents still live in the same house we grew up in a town that resists change.

But as of yesterday, I have thrust change upon myself in a grand way. I quit my job of almost 10 years and said goodbye to the only place I've worked professionaly. Now, I'm not an idiot. I didn't just quit to be unemployed. I think I'm the only person I know that has been continuously employed for 23 years (I'm 38 - not 60). I've never been laid off and I've never been fired or quit without either already working a second job or leaving to go to another job. This string continues and I'm moving to a new employer.

In the spring of 1998, I was the Assistant Manager at a OnCue store, a brand of Musicland. It was an OK job, but I was going to school for Computer Science. Not exactly the career I was studying for. My faculty advisor approached me one day with an opportunity. A local company was looking for interns to be software testers. The pay was a little bit less than what I was making, but the company seemed really interesting and would give me valuable experience for the after graduation job hunt. I took the job and began almost 10 year journey to today.

Through the years, I went from "just an intern" to the Development Manager. I became the architect for most of our companies products. I spent at least 8 hours a day here 5 days a week. This place and these people were definitely, a major chunk of my life. I really liked working here and I was very comfortable for a lot of years.

But the status quo changed and I found myself contimplating change. I started a process of just taking a look around to see what was available. When I saw the job market for computer programmers, I found a very scary sight. There were almost NO jobs in our market. When I'd finish college 8 years ago, there were jobs every where. It was a buyers market. But now...nada. This was the source of some seriousFUD.

The initial job hunt did not go well. I got one interview and now I had more FUD. After summer, I gave up for a while and just tried to focus on what I had, but the stress was growing. The company I'd been with for these past 9 years wasn't growing much and we were a long way from the Fortune 500. Now a days, I'm first and foremost a Dad. My family and their well being is the most important part of my life. If anything were to change the status quo for my company, what would I do? Its not like the old days, there were no jobs.

A Christmas miracle was in our future as the one interview I had last summer was finally producing fruit. That manager had called and suggested I apply for a job posting. I got the suit out of the closet one more time (casual attire at the other job :-) and did the interview. And this time, I got the job! But wait...what about my current employer? What would happen to them? My wife and I weighed all the options and thought about this for a few days. Actually, I didn't sleep for a few days as I compiled all of this. Again from the top, I'm not big into change.

We decided that it was best for me and our family to take the new job. And thus, 3 of the hardest weeks were on their way. My first task, to tell the owner of the company, my boss and friend that I was leaving. This was so unbelievably hard to do. I could tell by the look in his face, he was very surprised. I grew in my professional and personal life through this man. I don't ever want go through that again, but it is done. He asked me to not tell anyone for a few days. As he said, "The biggest rat is leaving the ship..."

Working with my co-workers without telling them what was about to happen was surreal. Going to meetings and helping them plan for the future, a future that they didn't understand, was not fun. I wanted to tell them, but I couldn't. I love playing poker. The feeling of running a great bluff is always fun...but this, this sucked.

Last week, we had a company meeting. This is how my boss wanted to break the news. He had some very good news to share and my story. I hope this helped. But their faces were also very surprised. These people are more than my co-workers, they are my friends. My heart knew I was disappointing them, I felt as if I was betraying them. But first and foremost, I'm a father and husband. In the long term, this is what is best for my family.

So I had a little over one week, a lame duck. I worked to make sure they could move on without me. All the while, I'm just wondering, is this the right decision? I have a corner office, a window and a door. I'm going from big fish in the little pond to little fish in the big pond.

This whole time, I just didn't know what to write. I wanted to write about everything that was happening, but I know people that read this blog also work with me. I need to see them and work with them. Until yesterday, yesterday I said goodbye. I got the last of my personal belongings in a box. A shock everyone's hand. I fought back tears. I know its not manly to get misty, but I hate goodbyes.

I know I'll be seeing my friends again. I'm not dead. But next time I see them, we will only be friends. I won't bump into them anymore in office. We won't just chat. I'll miss them dearly.

So for the first time in a very long time, I'm "between" jobs. I start the next chapter of my life on Monday. I dive into the big pond. I know things will be fine. But it is a bit daunting. Only time will tell. This weekend, I plan on enjoying time with the family. My kids are sad, this is the only company they've ever seen their Dad work at. I was on the same block as their elementary school. I could walk there in under 5 minutes. But now, I lose that.

If you've made it this far...sorry for the strange ride. I don't know if I've said this the way I hoped or if anyone really cares. But that's the story and this is my blog. Turn, turn, turn.

Happy Birthday G!

The Return of Duken Nukem!

Sound like Duke Nukem Forever might be on track for late in 2008, er, soon!

Absolutely, without a doubt, my favorite video game growing up. Will this be the end of a legend? And here. And here. Um...here.

I wonder if we will be able to buy this with vapormoney? Or will the price be in line with early 2000 $$$s, since that was when I was ready to buy it.

Heck...I'm still ready to buy it. See ya soon!

Been a while

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. Live is proving very hectic.

This weekend, the kids have decided to shift time zones again. 6:30 AM yesterday, our 4 year old comes in crying. Em, our 8 year old, woke her up because she was bored and lonely. Just like the movie Ground Hogs Day, it happened again today.

The best part of all of this? We had whiney kids all day. Yeah!

How do the know it's the weekend? During the week, we need to use cattle prods and high explosives to get them out of bed (that's an exageration, we'd never use explosives ;-))

Ugg!

We got a lot of transitions coming in the next 2 weeks, let hope the figure out soon we live in Central Standard Time.

Twins Fest - You won't believe this

Yesterday, I joined Mark at Twins Fest. The annual event to celebrate the greatest baseball team in the world. Well, you might argue that with me, but trust me when I say, you won't convince me otherwise...I'm a pathetically die-hard fan. Heck, I asked B to marry at a game. Seriously. The Jumbotron and the whole shebang!

Anyways, the reason for this post. I'm a softie for good charity, especially the Twins Community Fund. I wasn't having much success finding anything to spend my money on at the vendor show on the floor of the Dome. I noticed that there was a booth selling grab bags. The contained the usually storeroom clearing stuff. Promotional items that the promotion has long since ended, but they promise that 1:2 bags contained an autographed item. There were also so really big prizes that you might find. One bag for each girl ought to work. I grabbed two bags that felt like they had hats in them. Hats are good.

I brought the bags home without looking in them. I really didn't want to know how much junk I was bringing home.

I gave the bags to B and told her she could open up and see if I found anything worth while. I tend to like anything with the Twins logo on it. She's a bit more discerning.

She got pretty excited when she found the Culver's Twin's logo visor. That was cool. We also got a bronze statue of Kirby Puckett. Both bags had 2007 Twins Yearbook, very cool and when B grabbed the last book out of the second bag, an envelop fell out. The envelop looked like an official Minnesota Twins letterhead and in cursive script written in ballpoint pen were the words "Grand Prize!" Huh?

B open it up to find a letter, again, written on the Twins official stationary.

Congratulations!

This certificate is redeemable for

Cheap Seats Special

for the 2008 season!

You will receive two upper level general admission tickets

for ALL 81 regular season home games.

Its safe to say, I might get to quite a few games this year. In case you aren't a huge baseball fan - I won season tickets. Granted, they aren't behind home plate, but who cares, I WON SEASON TICKETS TO THE TWINS! K, KT, S - call me...I can hook you up!

Restaurant Review - Granity City, Fargo ND

Last weekend, while we were in Fargo, ND, we arranged to have breakfast with my cousin Lisa. Since she lived in Fargo, it was her job to find the spot.

Her recommendation was Granite City Food & Brewery. Having never heard of it before (remember, we are parents with young kids - we don't get out much). I have since figured out that this is a chain with some 21 locations. Of course, none of these are in Rochester, we would have at least known that!

From their website

Granite City Food & Brewery® is a casual dining restaurant with an on-site brewery. We offer a broad menu of items that are prepared fresh daily & are served in generous portions at reasonable prices. Our handcrafted beers are moderately priced & offer unique styles & flavors not typically produced by major breweries.

We were there during brunch. According to Lisa, they only server this meal on Sundays. This was to our advantage. The food was fantastic!

They served traditional buffet style breakfast. Scramble eggs, biscuits and gravy, sausage links, bacon, two types of potatoes and various baked goods. Many of the items were recipes I'd never tried before. They tasted delicious but not traditional.

The service in the place was great! It felt like all the waitstaff were taking care of everyone. Our drinks never ran dry and all of our questions and needs were fulfilled promptly and with a smile.

Too top everything off, every table is delivered a plate full of Carmel rolls. These were fresh, hot and delicious. Nummy!

If you find yourself in Fargo, on Sunday morning, definitely check this place out! We were not disappointed.

Twins Fest 2008

From the press

Twins Caravan #3

Joe Nathan!!!!!

Twins Caravan #2

Scott Baker

Twins Caravan #1

John Gordon

Ladies and Moms, can I get a little help here?

When the Mrs and I were driving back home from Fargo this weekend, we chatted for a while before she fell asleep. We talked about one of my greatest fears as a father. What would I do if our daughter gets her first monthly visit when Mom isn't home?

I grew up in a family of all boys. We never got a monthly visit.

I watched about one episode of Beverly Hills 90210. The one episode I watched, Dylan McCabe was watching his tweener sister for the day. At one point, she comes up to him to tell him that shes got the problem and wants him to help. At first, he tries really hard to help, but this subject is just so foreign to him. He takes her to the store and walks her to the aisle where they sell the supplies you girls need. He tells her to go pick out what she needs and he'll pay for it. She's just looking at him like "I have no idea what I need."

He does what any man would do, he punts. He takes the girl to Mrs. Walsh, his friends' Mom.

I have no idea what I'm going to do if this happens. Is there a kit you can get? Instructions for Dad on what to do and say? I'd really appreciate some help with this!

Thankfully, I should have a few years, but then again Mom tells me its happening earlier and earlier. Let's hope this is one area my kids are slow in.

Thanks for the effort!

I really appreciate everyone stopping by or sending my emails! I busted from the tournament. I'm pretty bummed. I wrote about it on my poker blog pretty extensively. I'll probably write more later.

I had a ton of fun and am pretty happy with how I played. I survide to around 70th in a field of 351 participants. Not too shabby.

Have a good night everyone. Time for a little relaxing and Mr. Deeds.

We've arrived in Fargo

We are here in Fargo. This is my cousin Lisa and her fiancé. This is
the Venue were my tournament will be tomorrow.

Oh how I love...

When I finally get to have a lunch with my wife, just the two of us, and my cell phone rings. Normally I just check and dismiss it, but today, it was our daycare provider.

CRAP!

So much for a romantic relaxing lunch. Just the two of us, ordering Chinese take-out at our favorite place for chinese food in town.

Oh well.

Hopefully we try and do this again. I was so excited to get to eat lunch with her.

We leave for Fargo this weekend. I will be playing in the State Poker Championship. Check the poker blog for details. I'll be updating it all weekend! Maybe even do some live blogging from the tournament. We can only hope!

Is there anything to see and do in Fargo? My camera is coming with...let's see what happens!

Yeah!!! I still own an iPhone - iBrick not found

All went well, the upgrade is done. My iPhone still works and can make calls. Now, it'll be like Christmas for a while while I get through all the changes in the latest update!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

iPhone Update 1.1.3 Is Now Available!

I'm downloading the latest update right now...hopefully I won't be the proud owner of an iBrick!

More details soon!

Download size: 162.1 MB

Yeah! Here's my blog + Make over!

Thank you very much Nap Warden! What an awesome job! Kick around in my new crib and let us know what you think.

Hors d'oeuvres and drinks are being served in the bar. Help yourself!

Again, thanks Nap Warden for a job well done. I love it!

Stay tuned!

The Nap Warden and I (mostly the NW) have been busy with my blog makeover! If all goes well, you should be seeing changes real soon!

Don't touch that dial!

The world lost one of the best

On December 28, 2007, the world lost a truly lovely person. My wife's Grandma past away.

We've been married for just over 11 years. Grandma was one of the first people I met in her family. She was the cornerstone of family. My wife had the greatest of admiration for her and I quickly learned why.

Grandma was the type of person that was always giving and hated to receive anything. The first thing I learned about being around Grandma was don't ever expect to leave her house hungry. I gotta to know the woman she was by eating with her and Grandpa. She never liked to see me leave without eating something.

When we were first married, my wife was a nurse in a hospital. She worked lots of crazy shifts. We didn't live all that far from Grandma and Grandpa. Somehow Grandma always knew when my wife worked evenings...because my phone would ring and there was Grandma...she'd just made a fresh pot of chili and wanted to know if I could come over. Yep, an invitation from my Grandmother-in-law. If only you had tried the chili you'd understand why I never turned it down.

It didn't take us long to have our first child. Grandma and Grandpa couldn't have been more excited. Our first daycare provider was none other than Grandma. We had one stipulation though. Grandma had been a life long smoker and we just didn't want our daughter growing up around cigarettes. Not a problem for Grandma, to have the opportunity to spend that much time around her great-grandchild, she just quit smoking. She'd been smoking for 40 years and just quit so she could do our daycare.

Having her do daycare helped create a bond to one more generation of her family. Our oldest daughter got to know her great-grandmom. How many daycare providers do you know that would stop you from leaving because your little one had a messy diaper. Yep, that was Grandma. I couldn't leave as long as the diaper was messy and as a new Dad, I couldn't have been more grateful.

Those people that grew up as her descendants are blessed people. I'm grateful that I got to know and love this woman. She was truly one of the greats. I miss her deeply.

This week with all of its sadness provided an opportunity. Like I said, Grandma was the cornerstone of the family. Family from all over the nation converged in our hometown to pay tribute to her life. 16 of the 21 grandchildren came home. I'm not sure this much family has been in town together since our wedding and most of us just picked up where we left off.

Last night, we joined KT (my wife,s cousin), S (her husband) and Bobby (my wife's cousin) and his new fiancee out for an evening of laughter, beer, food, beer, bowling and a little more beer.

I got some pictures with my phone to share with everyone.

As far as the bowling went, Scott showed why he bowls in a league and the rest of us bowl once per decade. But I don't think that was the point. The point was we were all together and the laughs just kept coming.


All the family has gone home now. Back to the corners of the country. Life is starting to return to some kind of normalcy. But I still miss Grandma.

On the brighter side, there is a wedding in the future. Let's hope we can get there.

I took a bunch of pictures the day of the funeral. I'm hoping to share them with everyone soon. I had a problem with some of them and am having a good friend whose a genius with Photoshop...he's fixing them. I'll have them soon!

RIAA and the dead cat bounce or the death rattle...

As the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) continues to wage war against consumer in the hopes that it can save its dying business model, our courts and our legistlature continue to feel bad for them. Let's make it clear right here, right now. These greedy pigs have only one thing on their mind and that's money. The ultimate goal of this cartel is to get you, the consumer, to pay every time you hear a song. Their goal is to eliminate any concept of "Fair Use."

The latest example was written about by Marc Fisher of the Washington Post. The RIAA believes that it is illegal for you to make a digital copy of legally purchased CD. Huh? You say. Of course that is what they believe. The idea that you should be able to buy a song once is a ridiculous idea to them. They would much prefer you buy song in each format you need. Cha-ching! Like the CD in your car, buy the CD. Want the song on your iPod or other mp3 player...but the song again...cha-ching!

The always counter with the fact that CD sales are down and that there is only one cause for this...people are getting their music illegally. This is B as in B, S as in S. Is it possible that music sales are down because the new music sucks? The industry has lost sight of what it does. They have attempted to take art and fit it into slots. The slots are the music people like. Well, I'm not a slot and neither is my taste in music. It all just sounds the same. Can anyone tell me the last time music didn't just suck? Country music today sounds like bad 70s rock. Rock music today all sounds like Nickelback. I just haven't been all that excited to go buy a CD in a very long time.

As soon as the record companies figure out that their product sucks and is way over priced. The industry will start to rebound. Not when they've sued everyone in to oblivion. Giving guranteed contracts to Brittney and her ilk, is just wasting money. Throwing lavish parties for celebrity musiciains does what exactly? I know, it burns millions of dollars and keeps the cost of music high. Get a grip on your business model. Learn to function like normal humans and businesses and ADAPT or the consequences is death. You will be the next buggy whips.

Vacation isn't always what you hope it is

Every year, I seem to have plenty of vacation left over affording me the opportunity maximize the vacation the last week of the year.

My company usually gets 2 days off for Christmas and 2 days for New Years. This year, for example, using 4 days of vacation, I haven't been to work since last Thursday and don't go back until next Wednesday.

Not to complain too much, but this vacation ends up being more stressful then it needs to be. First off, I love the build up to Christmas, the food is fabulous and its nice to see relatives I haven't seen since last year. The problem? We have 3 family functions to go to. We end up driving from our home to a family get together an hour a way on 3 separate days. I end up driving each trip. Did I mention that all of them are in the same town? Ugg.

The hustle and bussel of Christmas can just be a bit much.

Christmas went well. I'm pretty sure everyone got what the needed and wanted for Christmas. Over at my photography blog, you can see what I got. I'm really excited for the new lens. I can't wait to see what I can do with it.

We must be getting old. We have no plans for New Years Eve. Nada. We even have a babysitter. What are we thinking?

There is a contest for a blog makeover contest at the Chronicles of a SAHM. NapWarden is offering to use her special powers with Photoshop to provide a complete blog transformation. We have just a few days left in the contest and I'm proud to admit they have perfect attendance. I've submitted my comment every day since it started. I've also got one of the longest comments in the contest. You really need to go over and read it. It's a new twist on the classic poem, "Twas the Night Before Christmas".

Me and the girls have been going a little stir crazy this week. We've been pretty much inside our home since Christmas day. We went out to the mall tonight for a little while. That was nice, but it's been too cold and snowy to venture out to much.

One particularly cool thing that happened this week was I won my first somewhat major poker tournament. I actually have 3 blogs. I did this to separate the 3 facets of my life and allow me to write about each part in their own context. Plus, each blog has a different audience. Some of overlap and others really don't care about poker. Last week I played in first blogger tournament. Yes, poker bloggers have their own subculture and tournaments. The Mookie is one the major blogger poker tournaments held every Wednesday night. Most of the major poker bloggers participate in this tournament every week. Well the big news is a played it this week and won it! It was one of the most exciting poker tournament of my life. The highlights are over at my poker blog.

Coming soon...my New Years Resolutions! Any suggestions?

Merry Christmas From Our Home To Yours

Merry Christmas Everyone!

A quick post before we start this big day.

Merry Christmas to all! May all your dreams come true

How cute is this?

Come on! How cute is this???

I love modern electronics!

I'm at the mall. Christmas shopping. I've got my iphone to blog on.
And headphones in my ears to block out the insanity.

The truly greatest thing. No one bothers you when you are wearing
headphones!

Tim Walsh

DN4 - Could it be?

Back in the day, I was a huge fan of Duke Nuk'em. Probably the greatest video game...ever. Well, that might be a stretch, but my brother and I used to play it for hours at a time. We loved it!

I have been patiently waiting for the most ridiculed piece of vaporware in history. Duke Nuk'em Forever has taken FOREVER to get to market. Just released is a new teaser trailer for the game. Keeping the myth alive!



PS. I'm still working on the post from the High School Musical on Ice. Seems I was a bit click happy and took close to 400 pictures that day. oops. ALL the girls had a blast. I've been to far worse shows. The Wiggles were probably a bit tougher to take.

Intermission

We made through the first half. Aparently they are doing both movies!

We made it!

We are watching High School Musical on ice!!!

And Ash is just watching so good. In case you are interested, you've
never seen so many preteen girls wearing pink in one place. Holy cow.
I'd swear there 12:1 girls to guys here! No wait for the men's room!

On our way to High School Musical on Ice

We made a pit stop at the Mall of America. Its very festive here.

K - Is this one funnier?

This is a new one too...is this one funnier for you K? In case you are wondering, this type of humor is called "Satire". It is meant to be both funny and informative.


Evangeline Lilly Wins 'Best Wet T-Shirt Fight Scene' At Strong Women In TV Awards

It's the God Damn Waterbuffalos!

Back to the Onion we go! This card carrying carnivore found this one to be some of the best political parody ever!

Make sure you stay with it all the way to the end...tempers fly!


Should Animals Be Doing More For The Animal Rights Movement?

The tree is up, and for once its not snowing

We finally got the tree up and decorated. I had gotten it down from the garage 2 weeks ago, but life has been more hectic than we'd prefer.

The girls had fun decorating the tree, but B and I were not quite having as much fun. While they liked taking all the pretty ornaments out of their boxes, neither really liked to put the packing stuff back in the box. Ugg.

For the most part, the weekend was pretty nice. B didn't work, so much hometime was had by all. Grandpa J was down on Saturday. He helped me with a bunch of minor electrical problems with the house. Funny, a house that is one 3 years old would have problems.

Oh how I hate places that take advantage of the mathematically challenged. Our government can pass laws making it illegal for ANYONE to play poker because the might "bet the house" and lose it, but if you want to practice usury, that's fine.

Hopefully, we can help her get to the bottom of this mess in a way that she will actually learn her lessons. Family stuff sucks.

We have had a bit of trouble trying to figure out what to do with a relative of ours. She's found a way to really get into more trouble than anyone should be able to get into.

She's figured out how reproduction works. Which I don't think anyone is truly shocked about. But to make matters worse, she also found a way to make almost every financial mistake possible for someone that makes $10/hour.

She has some trouble with impulse control. She REALLY wanted a car. She had an opportunity to buy a decent car really cheap, but took financial advice from the wrong people. They suggested she not buy the really cheap car. So, she does what any self-disrespecting person with little to no math skills would do. She bought a car and car dealer that specializes in loans to people that can't do math or research.


On the brighter side, B has almost finished this term in graduate school. One final this week and few more things to take care of and then we get her back for a couple of weeks. I can't wait.

She tells me that this term will be the worse. I hope she's right.

Ash has learned the joys of shoveling! Too bad she's 4 and doesn't like it enough to do the whole driveway clean, but she tries and it's really cute.

Over at my poker blog, you can read about my shot at a World Poker Tour title. Well, that's reaching a bit, but I've found myself going into the final week the league champion. If I can stay in the top two, I'll go directly to state!

It's really starting to feel like Christmas around here.

My new lens will be here soon and hopefully, I'll get back into the swing of taking pictures again. I miss it, but I just can't get into the mood. All of this fresh snow is helping!

Welcome to Minnesta

OK...I posted to early!

Baltimore Dating

88%DRUNKARD

San Jose Dating

I SCORED A 76%

Boston Dating

Milwaukee Dating

1,887,480How Many Germs Live On Your Keyboard?

Milwaukee Dating

71% Geek

Nashville Dating

I like these tests.

Not bad for not having a science class in about 7 years! I think some of the questions were a bit misleading too.

Baltimore Dating

More Geek Funnies

As some of you know, I got my Computer Science degree in 2000. Just before the bubble go pop! I was working in the software industry before that as an intern. This video is really quite funny!

Can I get one more day this weekend?

What a busy weekend. Friday night, we took took the girls to go see "Enchanted." Here's a little review of the movie, keeping in mind that I tend to review family movies as they pertain to FAMILY movies.

The girls loved this movie! If you have a bunch of boys to take to a movie, this may not be for them. It was definitely a princess movie. Many of the jokes and gags in this move are references to other princesses. So be sure you know who they are! This movie was a musical. Giselle, played by Amy Adams, does a fantastic job of singing and embodying all of the princesses of the past. She does most of the singing in the movie. I usually can't stand musicals. Moulin Rouge! is without a doubt, the worst movie ever made. But I enjoyed this one. The music wasn't great, but the girls liked singing along, so that made me happy.

We saw this movie at the new Wehrenberg Theater on the south side of Rochester. I gotta tell ya, I was impressed. This place was nice AND they had food! We love this cause we can take the kids to the early movie and eat while we watch the movie. Granted...it's not cheap or healthy, but it's a ton of fun! This theater features a lot of digital projection...WOW, does that make a difference. We will be going back.

So we get home from the movie, everyone is singing and happy and ready for bed. Both girls fell asleep on the way home. I get everyone tucked into bed and go to fire up my laptop and start blogging all this stuff, and what's this? The Internet? We AIN'T GOT IT! I've had broadband Internet since Charter Communications started having it 7 years ago. I hate it not being there. So to the phones we go.

I connect to level 1 support and find out that...we've been suspended for abuse. Huh? What the hell does that mean? The give me another number to call. I call the next number. And they tell me the same thing. OK, but do you have any details? No. I need to call this other number (which is the same one Level 1 gave me. These other people work 8 to 5, M-F. WTF! I will have no Internet until Monday morning, and no one knows why? After working my way up the food chain, I'm finally told it's because I get too much spam. Huh? Why is that my problem? And why not just shut down my email address? Again, I'm to call these other people that don't work til Monday. I'm officially steaming now.

I try calling back to see if I got another person that might have English as a top 5 language. This time, I genuinely think they are trying to help me, but to no avail. But he's at least honest and says he really doesn't know why. I should try calling back in the morning after 8. The day people have more access to the info.

I called back right away at 8 am and man this person was right on the ball. We were disconnected because they think we have a virus on one of our computers that's attacking their servers. OK! I know how to fix that, but DAMN couldn't you just call me? They restored the Internet and all of its glory!

But now I need to run virus scanners on all of my computers...and make it to a Pamper Chef party by 10:30 with the girls. Sorry Kt, a friend of mine was having it, it was fun, but we held off ordering a lot of stuff to order from you.

By the time this gets done, the winter storm ravaging the state Minnesota is turning from snow to sleet. We hobble our way over to Home Depot and then to Target to buy supplies. for the rest of the weekend. At this moment I also had a fun idea for supper. We were definitely eating at home tonight, so I thought making homemade pizza sounded like a lot of fun! And it was. I made some pizza crusts and then we let the girls "decorate" their own sections of the pies. It was totally cool! After dinner, we shoveled some of the driveway, but the ice layer totally sucked so much of the driveway has been abandoned. We got done with that and settled in for a little family time watching Christmas specials and then all to bed. I did crank out a post for the poker blog last night...that was way over due as well.

Almost forgot to mention, this is Brenda's weekend to work. We miss mommy...it's been a long time since we had her home on the weekend.

Sunday arrives, Brenda is home, but she's almost done with the worse term of her graduate classes. It's thesis time, so today was spent researching and writing a paper. The weather sucks, the roads suck, so me and the girls are stuck at home trying to stay out of Mommy's hair long enough for her to get something done. We really can't wait for her to be past all this. It'll be worth it in the end, but we miss her, even when she is home.

We got the Christmas tree up. It's not decorated yet, but is up.

I miss my camera. I mean I still have it, but I just haven't been able to take any pictures lately. I need to find the books I bought a couple of weeks ago. One was a book of inspirational ideas. The creative kind, not the religious kind.

This about the longest post I've ever had here. And to think, it only covered the last 36 hours. I really can't wait to get back to work. Peace and quiet at last.

Night all!

Ain't winter fun!

This is the view out our bedroom window. The ice is building up on the
glass. I think we will be staying home tonight.