TheSnoopyPenguin

Post Ghana Report

2010-07-08T17:22:00.002-07:00

All excuses aside, I am finally posting our report from our mission trip to Ghana, West Africa! After going to Ghana in January, we attended a class on missions at our church. The class was incredibly challenging for us and we hope to post more about that later. The mission trip to Ghana was timed perfectly in our lives and perfectly for the class we took.

For those that may not have received the printed copy, please feel free to read our Ghana Report.

Stay tuned for more updates on our crazy life!

2009... You Will Be Missed

2010-01-02T16:52:00.015-07:00

It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone. Even more amazing is the fact that I can remind myself to write a blog article and it still will take months to accomplish!

Before talking about what is coming in 2010, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on the past few months of 2009 and all of the blessings contained therein!

Travel and training was another cornerstone of the year and the past few months were no exception. In October, I went to Philadelphia to help one of our offices move and build a network/video conferencing lab. While I was in Philadelphia, Tiffany, Emily and Sarah took a road trip from Phoenix to San Diego to San Francisco and back. They had a great time. As a small treat during my trip, I was able to go into New York City with a co-worker. We had to test a system in mid-town and then walked around Central Park, grabbed some delicious pizza and made a quick trip through Times Square.

I also made a fair share of trips to California over the past few months. After a while, they all start to run together. In December, I spent another two weeks in Las Vegas for Cisco training. This time, I obtained my Cisco Certified Voice Professional certification (CCVP). It involved 5 tests and it was very intense. I really enjoyed the classes and the material covered. Like last year, I attended classes at CCBOOTCAMP and highly recommend them for any Cisco training. In 2010, I will begin working toward my CCIE-Voice (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert - Voice) along with a number of other small certifications that I still need. The highlight of my trip to Las Vegas was Tiffany coming up to visit for a few days! It was nice to see her half way through the two week trip.

The biggest news of the last quarter is that Tiffany and I closed on a house in November! In July, we had bid on 3 houses. We did not expect the process to take so long, but we are happy that God provided ample patience. We closed on the house and moved the day before Thanksgiving. The next day, we hosted family and friends at the house for a big meal! Tiffany did a fantastic job, especially considering the fact that we had JUST moved into the house. Since Thanksgiving, we have continued to settle into the house. We have painted a couple of rooms and have been busy unpacking boxes. We have also had guests over a few times to help us settle and enjoy this gift from God! We look forward to unpacking the last box! I also look forward to clearing items off the "to-do" list... But, I guess that is part of owning a home!

There were a lot of other adventures over the past few months. Unfortunately, since I did not blog about each one, I will not make this post longer by adding details. Some of the adventures that we had included rock climbing in South Mountain at Teddy Bear Wall, visiting the World Wild Life Zoo and a wonderful trip up to Flagstaff before it turned bitter cold and snowy.

In a few short days, we will begin our next big adventure. As previously posted, Tiffany and I, along with some close friends, will be heading to Ghana on January 13, 2010. We are very excited about this trip and are amazed at how God has provided. He is an awesome God and has shown us His power once again. Check back soon for updates!

Finally, if you would like to read more about the past year, please click to view our 2009 Christmas letter.

Mission Trip: Ghana!

2009-10-03T15:37:00.003-07:00

Tiffany and I are very excited to announce that we are going on a mission trip to Ghana from January 13-24, 2010!! To read more details about the trip, please click here (This opens a PDF).

We are looking forward to God working through us to accomplish His will in Ghana!

If you are willing and able, we prayerfully ask that you consider supporting us financially on this trip. A large portion of the proceeds goes to building a church. More importantly, we are seeking people to be praying for us as we prepare for this trip and as we minister to the people of Ghana. If you would like to support us in prayer or financially, please print and mail this form (This opens a PDF document that you can print).

Thank You Park & Go!

2009-09-14T17:53:00.001-07:00

In August, Tiffany and I took our first cruise to Mexico. As we reported earlier, we had a fantastic time on the Carnival Elation! A few days after we go home, we realized that our nice Canon camera was missing. It is a terrible feeling when you discover that you have lost something. As I thought back on the trip, I remembered setting the camera down in the shuttle van we took after the cruise, but I did not remember picking it up.

After a couple of phone calls to the San Diego Park & Go, we found out that it had been found and was being stored in the safe! Not only had the driver found our camera, but he thought it best to store the camera in a safe while they waited for us to claim the lost item. Although we had to pay for the shipping (which is completely understandable), Santo graciously packed up the bag/camera and shipped it home!

So, we would like to officially thank the San Diego Park & Go for their honesty and safekeeping of our lost camera - Thank you Santo! You all have demonstrated the kind of customer care that we miss today!

8 Years and It Keeps Getting Better!

2009-08-17T13:59:00.007-07:00

8 years ago, on August 4, 2001, Tiffany and I were married in her Grandparents backyard outside of Richmond, Virginia. We are always amazed at how fast time flies, but even more amazed that it has been 8 years. It is also amazing to see how much two people change over time and how close we continue to grow.

Since I spent last year working on my anniversary, we decided that a proper vacation was in store this time around.

The first part of the adventure took us to Sea World in San Diego (I think this was our 3rd or 4th time being there). Our friends Emily and Sarah came along with us since we all bought season passes. We had a fantastic time watching all of the Summer Nights special shows. I also enjoyed the all-you-can-eat pass that I bought for the day (Probably not the wisest choice for the waist, but there definitely was not much waste...).

The next day was partially spent enjoying the sights, sounds and activities of Balboa Park. Our first stop was to the Museum of Man. I have to admit that we were all severely disappointed with the Museum and expected a lot more (especially for the price). We had a good time, but expected more bang for the buck.

After Museum, we bought hot dogs and nachos from a street vendor. Sometimes, the simple lunches are the best!

From lunch, we took a short stroll over the the Spreckels Organ. On Sunday afternoons, there is a free concert. That was a treat for sure. The organ and pipes are amazing and the atmosphere of an outdoor venue is fantastic!

The International Houses are also open on Sunday, so we enjoyed walking through the various countries represented while eating some good food and enjoying live music.

The weather was the most amazing part of the day!

In the evening, Tiffany and I went to Coronado Island to stay at the Marriott resort. One of the benefits of traveling so much for work is the points I have been able to build up for FREE lodging. We enjoyed our evening at the resort and on the Island.

On Monday, August 3, Tiffany and I made our way to the Carnival Elation cruise ship in San Diego. Balboa Park and Sea World were appetizers for the adventure that we enjoyed on the cruise. Not only was this our first cruise, but it was also our first time to Mexico. The cruise was 5 days and ports of call were Cabo, Mexico and Ensenada, Mexico.

In Cabo, we enjoyed some snorkeling and walking around the city (It was hot and I burned the top of my head!). In Ensenada, we did some shopping and enjoyed some street taco's. The two cities are very different from each other.

On board, we enjoyed most of the amenities offered. We ate plenty of food, visited the spa, read a book on deck, swam, watched shows, window shopped for stuff we could not afford and met some new friends. We had a fantastic time on our cruise and will plan another one for sure.

On our anniversary, we were able to get a table for two. Our waitstaff even brought us a cake and sang "Happy Anniversay" to us. It also happened to be formal night on the ship, so we were dressed up for some professional pictures.

After the cruise, we did not want to drive home. Instead, we drove up to Irvine to spend the night with a friend. We needed a good night of sleep to recover from the trip. I always find it odd that vacations require a recovery day... Go figure.

All in all, the vacation/anniversay trip was excellent. We had a great time and highly recommend San Diego and the Carnival Elation!

4 Months Later...

2009-07-29T11:13:00.007-07:00

So... Umm... It's been really busy over the past 4 months. As a result, I have procrastinated putting together a blog post. I keep a running list of items that I would like to blog about. In order to clean up my list, I am going to give the shot gun list of what has been going on lately. In other words, this will be a fast overview instead of an in depth analysis... Ready?

As I write this blog, I am sitting in San Jose, California. This is my 4th trip to San Jose in the past 4 months! I have also been to Albuquerque, Atlanta and Orlando on business. The Atlanta trip was for training. Tiffany and I went out a week early to see some friends and enjoy some vacation time. The Orlando trip was for InfoComm.

At InfoComm, I met a lot of great people in the industry and had a great time seeing new products. I was also honored to speak on two panels about technology. In particular, I spoke about the convergence of AV and IT. I also spoke about Unified Communications as it relates to video conferencing.

Our LIFE group also has remained very active over the past few months. We have taken a couple camping trips in Sedona and Payson, AZ. We also had a GREAT time rafting and camping on the Grand Canyon for a few days. The trip down the Grand Canyon was amazing. I haven't taken the time to get pictures up on Flickr yet, but they are amazing!

June marked my 10 year anniversary of graduating from high school. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the reunion this year. Tiffany and I are planning to take a much needed anniversary trip at the same time (We are going on a cruise!). Never-the-less, it is amazing to see how fast 10 years goes and how much can change from year to year. The one thing I know for sure is that God is always in control and grows more amazing day by day.

Climbing has also continued to go well. Although, it has been difficult to climb while traveling.... It's fun to see how much progress we have made and how much more needs to be made.

The other big news is that we are in the processes of buying a house! The market is ripe and we are ready. So far, things have gone well. We are bidding on short sales, so that can be a little un-nerving. Stay tuned for updates on the house process! It's hard to be patient, especially when you find a house that you really really like!

1Q09

2009-03-30T17:30:00.015-07:00

Swoosh - The first quarter of 2009 is history! It's hard to believe that the past three months have passed by so fast. On top of that, I have a back log of "Blog Articles To Write." So... I have decided to do the 35,000 foot flyby and lump everything into one article. It's a cheap way to get everything on "paper."

Buckle up, this is going to be fast!

Shortly after our last blog post, we took a trip through Sedona to the Grand Canyon. There was fresh snow in Northern Arizona and I wanted to see it (Notice the lack of WE in the previous sentence). Needless to say, the snow was great and so was the trip. We even played in the snow a little.

Other big trips in the past couple of months include:

San Diego, CA -- Sea World and the beach!!
Austin, TX -- Business trip/training
Chicago, IL -- Saw my step brother, his wife and three nieces while I was on this business trip
Las Vegas, NV -- Really cheap way to get-a-way for a weekend! We crossed the 10,000 mile mark with our Honda Civic during this trip. A friend came in from out of town, so we decided to make the journey!

Locally, Phoenix has a lot to offer. Spring is a great time in this city and we have made the most of it this year (There are only three seasons in my mind: Spring, Summer and Fall - I know that Spring just began, but it feels like it is actually summer now):

Dare2Share -- I went with our youth group to this event. We had a fantastic time. Singing. Witnessing. Learning. This is a great event and I look forward to it each year.
Luke Days Air Show -- Unfortunately, this only comes every other year. Fortunately, this is one of the years. Even more fortunately, we know a lot of people in the Air Force, so we felt like we had the royal treatment this year. We had a great time at the Air Show and are very thankful for the men and women that we know that serve this country. It is a real blessing to have them as friends. How many people get to go on base and fly a simulator?! Too cool!
Golf -- I went golfing early in March. I had a great time and did reasonably well. This is only the third time I have ever golfed.
Baseball -- I helped work on the Goodyear Ballpark earlier this year. As a reward, I was able to see a few spring training games for free. Not only that, but we got the best seats in the house (That would be the room with all of the A/V stuff, naturally)! It was fun getting to be a part of the stadium and seeing the first couple of games.
Zoo -- We went to the Phoenix Zoo a couple of weeks ago. In fact, it was the same day that we went to the Air Show. Yeah. We got a lot of sun that day.
Aloha Festival -- Another great outdoor activity in Phoenix. Lots of sun. Lots of food. Tons of fun! This is a March Must!

One of the biggest blessings and changes in our lives is climbing! In the beginning of February, we joined a climbing gym and have tried to spend 2-3 nights a week climbing. We love climbing! It is a great way to workout and have fun at the same time. It is neat to look at how we have changed during this time.

Work has been up and down a bit recently. Due to the economy, we underwent a little downsizing at work. Thankfully, I am still happily employed right now. The downside is that I lost some leadership that I really respected and trusted. It will take a while to build up again. Other than that, work seems to be picking up quite a bit.

To close things out, I have decided to add a few more pictures from the past couple of months. I am really bad about sharing our pictures, so I am going to try and spruce things up a little by adding pictures more often.

State of the Kelly Address

2009-02-06T15:55:00.003-07:00

Parents, Friends, Family, Acquaintances, People We Do Not Know,
The state of the Kelly Union is great!

2009 has started off on the right foot - Almost literally too! Every weekend of January was spent being active. From biking in the White Tanks to hiking in South Mountain and Sedona. The weekends were absolutely beautiful and begged to be be enjoyed. We praise God for His blessing of strength and health. We look forward to a full year of enjoying His creation!

At the beginning of February, we joined a local climbing gym. It is time to get serious and get in shape. Climbing is a fantastic workout and lends itself to good friends and adventure. It is an exciting way to workout too!

Tiffany has been great with devotions over the years. She is always reading and studying to Word. We recently found a devotional series that we are working through at the same time. It has been great getting spiritual exercise and regularly being in the Word. We are also very active in our LIFE group, Sunday School, Youth Group and Sunday morning services - We are trying to be immersed in the Word as much as possible!

I also have a fully implemented "Getting Things Done" system now that seems to be working for me. I have struggled with different systems for a while and let that be an excuse for not getting things done. Now, I do not have an excuse. I have a system that is always in front of me or in my pocket: Microsoft OneNote.

One of the biggest things that I have accomplished through the system is finally documenting and putting into practice a photography work flow. Since we take a ton of pictures and always have people wanting copies, I needed to figure out a way to control the distribution, but also be able to showcase the ones that I wanted. With a little more tweaking, it should be a full functional machine. After downloading pictures, I edit them in Picasa 3 (Mainly delete bad ones and flip sideways ones). After Picasa, I copy them to a central location on our home network. The pictures are backed up once a week and stored in the safe. From Picasa, I upload the pictures to Flickr and mark them as private. From Flickr, I import the pictures into our gallery where people can sign up for accounts and gain access to download pictures that they want (You can select individual ones for a "shopping cart" or you can download an entire set - All in .zip format!). Back on Flickr, I can then open up pictures for public viewing to show the better pictures that are not full of people and stuff. I look forward to getting a lot of pictures online over the coming months and finally begin using the thousands of pictures that we have taken.

Work has been great as of late too! Praise the Lord for work right now. It is very busy and does not show signs of slowing right now. I am presently working a number of roles, among which are consulting and pre-sales. I look forward to working with many clients this year. Previously, I worked on one account. Now, I am able to expand the horizon more and get some more broad experience.

Thank you to those who regularly pray for us. God is good. We thank Him for the many blessings that He bestows on us and pray that we will never forget to give Him all of the glory. At the same time, we pray that we would continue to be more like Christ each day and let Him be glorified in all we say and do.

Train Derailment in Avondale

2009-01-05T16:07:00.003-07:00

Earlier today, a few train cars were derailed near 10900 W Buckeye Rd in Avondale, Arizona (About a 1/4 mile West of 107th Ave and MC85/Buckeye Rd). I have not found any articles about the accident yet, but I did take some pictures of my own and posted them on flickr.

Wrapping Up 2008

2008-12-30T12:45:00.004-07:00

Tiffany and I recently put together our annual Christmas letter (Soon to be posted on our website) and quickly realized how crazy 2008 was. It was a good year too.

After Thanksgiving, we took a trip to Las Vegas with some friends. Bluegreen recently opened a new resort called Club 36, so we wanted to make sure we visited it as soon as possible. The resort was beautiful. It is just off "The Strip." It was also just off the "Landing Strip" of the airport. Surprisingly, we were not able to really hear the jets from inside our room.

We arrived in Las Vegas the day after the big "snow storm." Unfortunately, most of the snow had melted in the Valley. On the way back to Phoenix, we stopped in the mountains for a snowball fight and built a snowman too.

The biggest highlight of the trip was going to see Cirque du Soleil Ka. The best word to describe the show is: WOW! We had awesome seats and had a fantastic time.

In other news:
- We enjoyed the last few weeks of December. Christmas and a lot of resting were a great way to end the year (As always). We received a number of cash gifts this year, so we pooled them together and purchased climbing gear! We expect to get a lot of use out of the gear in 2009 and beyond.

- We have already hit the 10,000 picture mark with the Canon Xsi! We hit the mark on the 97th day of owning the camera. That means that we take an average of 103 pictures a day. Now I just need to figure out a good workflow to sort through the pictures and post the best ones (This project is already in progress)!

- Finally, I received a bit of a promotion in December. The details are not fully ironed out yet, but it is exciting!

Reasons to Give Thanks

2008-11-27T08:59:00.003-07:00

For the past two weeks, I have been in Las Vegas at CCBOOTCAMP. My return to Las Vegas, along with the intense study has yielded me with a CCNP and CCDP (Cisco Certified Network Professional and Design Professional). It was a long two weeks and I am glad to be finished. I am also very glad and fortunate that my company paid for the entire training and gave me the time to work on it!

A couple days after returning to Phoenix, Tiffany and I headed to Hershey, PA for Thanksgiving. We will spend a few days in Heshey with my brother and his wife along with my nephew and mother. After which, we will be driving down to Richmond for a few days. We will also visit Shenandoah Crossing Resort to cap off the trip.

We have so much to be thankful for this year! God continues to bless in unbelievable ways. The following is a non-exhaustive list of items that I am thankful for today:
1) Salvation!
2) Tiffany - Today is the 10th Thanksgiving that I have spent with her!
3) The huge amount of training I have received this year
4) 4 shiny new certifications: CCNA, CCDA, CCNP, CCDP
5) A great job with the prospect of a new position coming soon
6) Great friends
7) Lots of places we have visited
8) A church that loves the Word of God and people
9) Family
10) So much more - God is wonderful and should be praised and thanked!!

Weekend in Pine

2008-11-05T09:38:00.004-07:00

I planned to type up a nice blog post about our past weekend in Pine, Arizona, but Cheyenne just made a marvelous post about the trip! Cheyenne's post goes beyond my meager attempt.

Suffice it to say, we had a great weekend in Pine.

Disneyland and Hollywood

2008-10-28T20:06:00.003-07:00

Tiffany and I have lived in Phoenix for a year. Since we are new to the area, we have a growing list of adventures and destinations that we are working through. I have never lived in the West, so everything is new for me. Enter Disneyland...

On October 25, I visited Disneyland for the first time! Last year, we went to Disney World in Florida. After that trip, we knew that a Disneyland trip was in order.

Two of our friends joined us for the trip (Emily and Sarah). We entered the park when it opened and we left about 10 minutes before Main Street closed. It was a very long day, but a ton of fun.

So, what does the picture have to do with Disneyland? First of all, it is so Cheyenne will see that I do know how to post pictures on my blog. Secondly, I discovered long exposures mixed with pretty lights! Out of all the pictures that I took at Disneyland (Nearly 1200), this is my favorite!

For more pictures from our trip to Disneyland, please visit our flickr photo set.

Vacation and Thoughts: Esondido, California

2008-10-06T11:42:00.005-07:00

On Sunday, September 28, the family piled into two cars and drove to the Lawrence Welk Resort in Escondido, CA. Over the past couple of months, it became obvious that a vacation was in order and this was the perfect time to take it.

This was the first long trip that we have taken with our new car. It was a very comfortable drive and we had excellent gas mileage!

About 2.41 minutes after arriving, we were in the pool. The resort has a nice waterslide and multiple pools at the different activity centers.

On Monday, I had to work. It was nice sitting outside with a cool breeze, but it was not fun. Working on vacation is a huge oxymoron.

On Tuesday, Tiffany and I went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. This was a great opporunity to give our new camera a workout. We took a ton of pictures at the Animal Park and had a great time. It was around 100 degrees, so we made sure to pace ourselves! In the evening, I attended a "Casino Night," at the resort. We were playing for prizes, but I didn't win anything. It was a lot of fun to play though.

Wednesday brought us back to the Animal Park for a return visit. This time, most of the family joined us. It was about 100 again and I took about the same number of pictures as I had the day before.

Balboa Park and Corondado were the destinations of choice on Thursday. Balboa Park was beautiful. Tiffany and I decided that we could easily spend a day or two trying to visit everything there, so we will have to plan that as a later trip. At Corondado, we relaxed on the beach for a while. The beach was practically empty which always makes a beach trip that much better. In the evening, we visited long lost family. It was nice to meet some of Tiffany's cousins and eat yummy Hawaiian food at the same time!

On Friday, Tiffany and I went to Legoland for the day. For most of the day, the place felt like a ghost town. We truly felt like we had the park to ourselves - It was fantastic. We had a great day at the park. It was a little chilly in the afternoon which was quite nice. It brought back fond memories of Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Before leaving the park, we both got to play with robots.

Originally, we were all going to travel home on Saturday. Since we were enjoying our vacation so much, Tiffany and I decided to stay another day. We had a great time lounging around the resort, swimming, playing tennis, playing pool, watching movies, eating pizza and sitting around an outdoor fireplace in the evening. We also took some pictures of old cars at a local winery. It was a great day and very relaxing.

On Sunday, we decided that it would be boring to drive home and waste the day, so we went back to Legoland and an outlet mall before driving home. The trip home was great too. I love driving on the open highways between Phoenix and California. The desert and mountains are beautiful!

On vacation, it is easy to relax. Life just seems to stop for a while. Unfortunately, our busy lives always seem to catch up when we get home. Why? I am really beginning to think that stress and all of the busy "stuff" of life is self inflicted. How is it that I can relax on vacation? It's because I choose to set aside the stress and stuff that "needs" to get done. I think it is very important to take regular time to step away from life and refresh. Unfortunately, the easiest solution is the one that I fight the most. In Psalms, David often had a lot of conflict. Many of the Psalms start out with David fighting something or someone. In the end though, his vision is corrected by reflecting on God and how wonderful He is. I need to make a committment to spend more time in the Word and spend more time talking with God. It's not a superficial feel good thing to do - It's a relationship that I do not take advantage of enough. Spending time with God is real. It produces real results.

I also need to take more time to write down my thoughts. By trade, I am paid to think and write. Unfortunately, that means that I have a lot of thoughts and information flowing in my tiny brain. It always helps to write it down and get it offline and out of my active thoughts. It was easy to relax on vacation because I didn't have to think. Riding roller coasters and playing in sand do not require as much brain power as writing a high level design for a project (Although, I do find a lot to think about with roller coasters and sand). Writing thoughts down tends to help the brain rest better (The best proof of this concept is David Allen's "Getting Things Done" and "Ready for Anything").

By writing down my thoughts and spending time alone with God, I will be able to have a "daily vacation," from life. Vacations shouldn't be the only time that we step away from the rush of life. It needs to be a daily action so the stress and stuff will not be able to build up and swallow the things that life is really to be about. As you will see in the coming months, Tiffany and I are going to be very busy between now and the end of the year. How I choose to spend my time in "mini-vacation land," will determine how I feel on January 1. Will I choose to spend time with God and have time to reflect or will I let everything consume me in the end...

CCNA and Xsi!

2008-09-18T08:26:00.002-07:00

What does a Cisco CCNA certification and a Canon Rebel Xsi have in common? Me. =)

Yesterday, after much preparation and study, I passed my Cisco Certified Network Administrator certification exam. I wish that the certification was for life because I do not want to take it again. Many tests are easy to study for. You download some test prep and your off. The problem with this exam is that they give you broken networks that you need to fix. They give you a scenario and make you think about it. It's a difficult test, but it is also easy if you prepare well (I didn't think I was going to pass on the first attempt). Another key to passing this test is to relax the evening before you take it. For me, I spent the evening at a Diamondbacks game. Tiffany and I sat in the nose-bleed section and watched the D-Backs shutout the Giants.

After passing my exam, I drove to my local Best Buy to purchase a new camera (Canon Rebel Xsi). For those of you that know me well, this is a treat that I have been saving for and hoping for. For the past 4 years, I have been shooting pictures with the Fuji S5000. At last count, we had taken over 35,000 pictures with that camera. I had a growing list of features that I desired and this camera had them all. Now, I just need to get into a better habit of updating my flickr page... =)

As always, all glory is due to God. He has blessed us in many ways over the years. Most of all, he has blessed us with salvation through His Son. We are humbled that he has chosen us to serve Him in life. We hope that this camera and certification will be used for His glory!!

CCDA!

2008-09-03T17:20:00.002-07:00

I passed my certification exam for CCDA (Cisco Certified Design Associate) today!! This test is the easier of the two that I am presently studying for. Next week, I hope to take my CCNA exam (Cisco Certified Network Associate)!

On top of these two certifications, I recently found out that my company wants to pay for me to get me CCDP (Cisco Certified Design Professional) and MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer)! They need a certain number of people to be certified in order to sell certain equipment, so they asked me to be one of them.

These certifications will round out the video conferencing and audio visual certifications that I already have.

I am very grateful to be working for a company that is willing to invest in employees like this!

A Better Way to Make Money in Vegas!

2008-08-28T11:02:00.003-07:00

I am sure that this title alone will attract thousands of people to my blog. For those hoping for some gambling secret, sorry, I do not have any except one, but I do not want to share it. =)

Last week, I spent 7 days sitting in a classroom in Las Vegas. I attended a CCNA and CCDA boot camp in preparation for the respective certifications. It was a VERY long week for me. What made it longer is that it added to the "month that will not end." This month has been abnormally busy with travel. From August 4 (our 7th anniversary) through August 29, I have only had 1 day off. Granted, we were able to complete a massive project for one of our clients and I was able to receive invaluable training, but I am tired.

I am definetly looking forward to a long weekend!

So, what does this title have to do with this content. Training. For a long time, I have worked on the "practical" side of IT. All of my experience and knowledge has been self-taught for the most part. After this week of training, I have to admit that the secret lies somewhere between. Practical training and experience is absolutely essential to IT, but the head knowledge and certifications demonstrate a base knowledge the employeers are looking for.

I believe that there are some exciting days ahead for me as I finish these certifications. I have also been in discussions with my company about the future and I hope that this all plays together!

7 Years!!

2008-08-15T17:22:00.002-07:00

On August 4, 2008, Tiffany and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary in style... We flew to Virginia so I could work... =(

August 4 began a 12 day work week for me that ended today. We spent a week in Virginia where I put in many many hours of work migrating two servers. It was a highly stressful experience, so I am very happy that it is over.

While in Virginia, we had the great pleasure of visiting with some friends. This was Tiffany's first trip back in 11 months, so some of the reunions were nice! To end the trip, we rented Segway's in Richmond. We had an awesome time riding around with some friends along the Canal Walk. The owner of the shop was super nice and even remembered out names (Very impressive when a person remembers names after hearing them ONE time!)!

Over the next week, we were equally busy. After 111.75 hours of work over a 12 day period, I am ready to relax for a couple days. This evening, we are going to see a drive in movie and then head up to the Grand Canyon in our brand new car.

Yup! Part of the reason this week was so busy is that I had to haggle with some Honda dealerships for our brand new 2008 Honda Civic LX! At the time of this writing, we now have 66 miles on the car. We are so excited to have this new blessing from the Lord. It is great to see how the Lord has blessed us over the past 7 years of marriage. I thank God for his provisions for us. Most of all, I thank God for my wonderful wife. Tiffany is a daily blessing to me and I love her more every day!

In the words of Kip from Napolean Dynamite, "Peace Out!"

Air Force Week

2008-07-28T14:29:00.002-07:00

OK. So, I am mildly excited that it is Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. It's exciting because it means that Discovery Channel is entering it's new season. All sorts of new shows to waste time watching. Shark Week is not as exciting as last week though. Last week was Air Force week for Tiffany and I!

On Wednesday, we drove down to the Barry M. Goldwater Range south of Gila Bend. We went down there with a friend from Luke AFB, some cadets, our nephew and another friend. On the range, we watched some A10's and F16's bombing and strafing! Watching an A10 strafe is very exciting and loud.

After spending a few hours at the range, we traveled back to Luke to fly the 360 degree simulator. After flying around for a few minutes, they set me up to land the jet. I had a great time landing the jet- I didn't crash and I stopped before the end of the runway! The simulator is infinitely more exciting to fly than any of the Microsoft simulators... =)

As an added bonus to the day, we actually were able to walk out and sit in the base commanders F16! Wow...

On Friday, we drove back to the base to watch power plant mechanics cycle an F16 in the hush house. One of our friends from church is an instructor on jet engines. After the engines are repaired, they need to be tested. For the first run, we sat behind glass and watched the jet fire the afterburners. It was very exciting! For the second run, we actually stood in the same room as the jet and watched it again! It was incredible! The sound, rumbling and light was spectacular. I have since learned that this experience is a very rare treat. All of our pilot friends have yet to experience this! Of course, I have yet to experience flying one! =)

Having such a large base near our house is great! I am proud of our military and thankful for the many friends that we are making through our church (We have a lot of people from the Air Force that attend our church). Tiffany and I have been building relationships with many of them and are thankful for their dedication to this country!

July 4th in San Diego

2008-07-08T18:39:00.002-07:00

Today was a day of reality. The reality that fun and vacations pass too quickly and work comes back too soon!

On July 3, I got off work a little early to go to a Diamondbacks game. The Dbacks were playing the Brewers. We had great seats! Most of the game was a huge let down. The Brewers were ahead 5 to 0 when the bottom of the 9th inning began. Many of us decided to flip out hats inside out and cheer for the Dbacks. The game ended 5 to 6! The Dbacks made a great rally and overcame the Brewers. It was very exciting to be at the game and see them rally like they did. Unfortunately, it was short lived. They started off well this year and seem to be falling off mid-season. Oh well- I am still going to cheer for them!

That evening, we went to see Wall-E at the drive in theater. Our niece and nephew came with Tiff's mom. It was a lot of fun. At the end of the movie, a lightning storm moved into the valley. I call it a lightning storm because it was everywhere, but there was no thunder. We did get a little rain with it, but not much. The lightning was spectacular! Cloud to cloud and cloud to ground. With all of this open space, I am not used to seeing so many bolts so clearly!

On July 4, Tiffany and I drove to San Diego with Chris and Lauren. I had a bunch of Marriot points from work, so we stayed at a brand new Courtyard by the airport- It was nice. We drove out to Point Loma that afternoon and enjoyed a wonderful fireworks display from the back of the hotel (San Diego floats 5 barges in the bay, so the view it expanded!). Our "son" from college flew down from LA to spend the night too.

On Saturday, we took a tour of the harbor and walked around the city for a while. It was a lot of fun. In the evening, we decided to watch a movie and stay out of the sun.

Sunday was spent relaxing at the beach. The marine layer did not clear out for most of the day, so it did not get too hot. The water was chilly at first, but it was nice once we got used to it. Chris and I enjoyed rolling with the waves and trying to overcome them.

On Monday, we walked around Mission Bay Beach for a while and ate lunch. On the way back to Phoenix, we drove through a monsoon storm. It was intense! I have rarely seen rain as hard as we did on this drive.

All in all, the 4th of July weekend was very memorable and fun. I am glad that we were able to spend it with friends and take a mini-vacation. It was also fun to remember this great country in which we live. We forget how great it is all too often!!

Avondale Brush Fire (Part 2)

2008-06-26T16:21:00.004-07:00

The Gila River Brush Fire seemed to almost be dead earlier today (Judging by the amount of smoke we saw). Due to the heat and wind, the fire has grown. It has also moved to the East. Over 1500 acres have burned at this point!

I have uploaded more pictures and a short video on Flickr!

Another Avondale Brush Fire

2008-06-26T09:48:00.002-07:00

Yesterday, around 4:30pm, I was swimming with Hope and Pacey. I noticed some gathering clouds and heard some thunder. We decided to be safe and get out of the pool. After drying off, I looked out my bedroom window and saw a beautiful lightning bolt strike near the mountains. A few minutes later, I looked again and saw a plume of smoke rising!

This is the second Avondale brush fire that we have witnessed recently. This one seems to be bigger and more intense than the last one we saw.

At last report, I heard that over 1,000 acres had burned. Due to so many fires in California, we are apparently having difficulty getting air support (The fire is a little difficult to get to). It looks like the fire died down a lot last night, but the valley is filled with smoke today (Yuck!). Let's hope it stays down!

I have posted some pictures of the fire on Flickr.

CA and NM and NV

2008-06-21T12:06:00.003-07:00

This week has been the week of travel for our family.

On Saturday, Tiffany's parents and niece and nephew drove to San Diego for a week long vacation. At the same time, Tiffany and Terah drove to New Mexico with the SMI teens from our church. They spent the week in NM holding 10 Vacation Bible Schools in the Gallup area.

On Monday, I flew up to Las Vegas for InfoComm 2008. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. I had a great week networking and seeing new AV products on the market. The value of this week cannot be measured easily. Our company recently merged with another company so this was our first time meeting. It was also a great time to showcase the company and be seen. I walked around the show with my biggest client. It was great to see that everything I have been saying is in line with the industry. My position as of late has been a mixture of systems engineering, strategic planning and being a general technologist. So, it is great to see that the messages I am communicating are completely in line with what others are saying. It was a sort of validation that I needed, especially with my client being present.

I think it's time to unpack now and jump in the pool for a while- It's 110 (Las Vegas was also hot last week, but not as hot as Phoenix).

Drive In Movies

2008-06-14T15:50:00.002-07:00

Last night, we decided to go see a drive-in movie at the West Wind Glendale 9 Drive-In! Karl, a friend of ours, put a couch in the back of his truck for the movie. We arrived early to get a good spot and grill some dinner. Around 8:30pm, the movie began. Around 3:00am, we left.

Yeah- We had so much fun watching the first movie, we decided to stay and watch two more. The drive-in has 9 screens so we had a lot of choices!

This theater is definitely on the "What should I do Friday Night" list!!

Mogollon Rim and Fossil Springs

2008-06-14T14:59:00.002-07:00

Since the valley is beginning to heat up during the day's, we decided to make an escape last weekend to the Mogollon Rim. Friday evening, after work, we met up with a few friends and drove up to the Mogollon Rim for some camping.

We arrived well after dark, but we found the campsite. After setting up the camp, we walked to the edge of the rim to see an amazing display of stars and beauty. I do not think I have ever been able to see so many stars at once.

After a rather chilly night, we woke up to hike the Fossil Springs trail near Strawberry, Arizona. The hike down to the springs was beautiful. When we arrived at the first pool of water, we jumped in and swam for a while. We knew that there was a dam nearby, so a few of us hiked down to the dam. The dam and area surrounding the dam was a virtual playground of fun. Rope swings, jumping off the dam, deep pools of water- Wow! I did not jump off the dam, but a couple of the guys we were with did (It was quite high actually). Tiffany and some people swam behind the waterfall. It was great. Tiffany and I had developed some blisters, so we took the easier route out of the springs while the other half of our group hiked back up to the truck. The hike out was fantastic. Most of the hike out was in the shade and ran along the river, so it was much easier than it would have been had we gone out the way we came in.

When we got back to the camp, I crashed. I could not even stay up for dinner (Which I heard was great).

After a great breakfast on Sunday, we all walked over to the rim to have a little Bible study. Studying the Bible with friends on a beautiful rim is awesome! We packed up camp and drove down to Pine for the Strawberry Festival. Unfortunately, they did not have any strawberry shortcake. Never the less, the small town festival was cute and fun.

We had a great time camping on the Mogollon Rim and hiking the Fossil Springs trail! We cannot wait to do it again soon!

Thousands of Miles Later...

2008-05-09T08:43:00.002-07:00

Quiz: Where is Jim right now... Based on a quick study of this blog, you may be able to guess that I am sitting in an airport. Yup... Right now, I am in my old favorite: Richmond, VA.

The past two weeks have been fast and furious.

On Friday, April 25, I took a day off work to drive from Phoenix, AZ to Irvine, CA. Tiffany and I took a mini trip to visit our good friend Mark. Mark was our "adopted son" during college and it has been a while since we last saw him. The drive to California was nice. It was good to drive and spend time with Tiffany. On Saturday, we went flying with Mark. Mark basically has his own airplane and loves to fly! After an hour and a half flight at about 1500 feet, we landed at Santa Barbara. The flight was awesome: We flew over Los Angeles, Hollywood, the ocean and Malibu. Once we landed in Santa Barbara, we walked to the ocean for lunch and sun. It was VERY relaxing! Our trip back to Corona was also very nice. The next day, we went to church with Mark and then drove to Las Vegas, Nevada.

From Sunday through Friday, we were in Las Vegas. This time, Tiffany got to relax while I walked many miles at Interop. The conference and expo were filled with incredibly valuable information that I hope to use very soon. On Friday, May 2, we drove home. Actually, I dropped Tiffany off in Prescott, AZ and I drove home from there. Once I made it home, our car had 1060 new miles on it. I quickly unpacked the car, changed into a suit and drove to the church.

At church, I helped with a senior honors banquet and a long evening of laser tag. To say the least, I was dead when I arrived back home (About 4:30 am on Saturday).

Two days later, I was back on an airplane to Richmond, VA. My week in Richmond was spent training a new guy and visiting some friends (Two of our Richmond friends have recently had babies, so it was nice to see the newborns). The training went fairly well, but was constantly interrupted. Consequently, I need to figure out another strategy for transfering knowledge!

So... Here I am... Getting ready to board another plane to journey home. In a few hours, I will be home with my lovely wife. I think it is time for a vacation!

Off to the Big Apple

2008-04-17T09:33:00.002-07:00

Well, here I am again... Sitting at the airport... Waiting for my airplane. I am off to New York City today. I have an exciting opportunity with work that I hope will grow in the near future. The most exciting part of the trip is the opportunity to work with a new client. I have been working with my present client for 3 years as of this month. I have learned a lot over the past few years and hope to apply it to new opportunities and clients. I am very thankful for how the Lord has blessed over the past few years. I am in a very exciting industry and I love what I do!

To top it all off, I am bringing a nice dose of Phoenix with me. The weather looks like it is going to be perfect this weekend in NYC!

Hike in Rogers Canyon

2008-04-08T08:54:00.002-07:00

This past Saturday, Tiffany and I woke up around 5:30 am to head out for a hike in the Superstition Mountains. We met a friend around 6:00 am and began the journey to the trailead of Rogers Canyon. Due to the incredibly rough nature of the last 12 miles, the trip took 4 hours to complete. A little after 10:00 am, we joined a group on a nice long hike down Rogers Canyon to some old ruins up in the cliffs. After hiking between 4-4.5 miles and crossing the river about 30 times, we arrived at the ruins of a cliff dwelling. Some people ate lunch up in the ruins while some of us soaked our feet in the cold water. Aparently, it is rare to see water on this trail, so we were glad that we were able to enjoy it. The landscape and trail is varied. One moment, you are in wooded areas, the next moment you are in plains followed by step hills. All in all, the drop from the parking lot down to the ruins is about 1,000 feet (which means you get to go UP at the end of the day). Tiffany and I were very glad to see the trucks as we completed the hike. We had each drunk over a gallon of water and were ready for more. We returned to the trucks almost exactly 7 hours after begining the hike. According to the GPS, the ruins are about 3 miles from the parking area (Rogers Trough). The guides that I have read place the trail at a 8-9 miles round trip!

All in all, it was a beautifil April day. The vegetation was in full bloom and included cacti, flowers and trees. The temperature was almost perfect the entire day, which is always nice when hiking like this!

After the hike, we enjoyed the 12 mile drive back down the mountain. Going down was a lot faster, but it was still very rough. I bet we got a good ab workout from trying to roll with the bumps.

By the time we got home, it was time for bed. The entire day was spent enjoying God's spectacular creation! We were tired, but thankful for the strength and energy to enjoy the day. We have been working out lately and this trip was evidence that it is working. It is also evidence that we need to keep it up too!

Some adventures are about the journey as opposed to the destination. This was one of those days. The fellowship and new friendships forged, along with experiencing God's creation was worth the day.

Latest News... Apart From the Fire

2008-03-24T10:12:00.002-07:00

Apart from the local brush fire, the past week has been pretty busy.

I spent most of last week in Denver, Colorado (A first for me). It is a beautiful area and a reminder of why we moved West (Well, one of many reasons). One evening, I went downtown to the 16th Street Mall. As much as I can estimate, I think I walked about 3.5 miles. I ate at Hard Rock Cafe also.

On Friday, when I got home, the family went downtown to watch the Arizona Rattlers whip the New York Dragons in Arena Football. I have never been to an AFL game before. The game was fast paced and a lot of fun. We will be going to more AFL games in the future!

Finally, we got up early Sunday morning to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior! Pastor shared a very memorable sermon on the resurrection and living in light of it. The resurrection is the crux of our faith. I praise God that my Savior is not dead! My Savior is alive and provides me a with a confident expectation of what is to come!

Avondale Brush Fire

2008-03-24T09:39:00.005-07:00

This past weekend was a little exciting around the West Valley! On Saturday, a small brush fire broke out near the Phoenix International Raceway just South of our home in Avondale. By early evening, it looked like the fire was out. Sunday afternoon, it was roaring again (It was much bigger on Sunday). We took our niece and nephew down to the river to play around Sunday afternoon. While we were looking for a good place to pull off, we noticed that we were pretty close to the fire. We decided to drive around and snap a few pictures while looking for a place to park. Since there was not much wind, the smoke rose straight up. We also saw airplanes and a helicopter dropping water on the fire.

I have posted a link to the pictures and a news report.

Pictures on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/inaainae/sets/72157604228017062/
News Report: http://www.kpho.com/news/15684845/detail.html

Inbox = Zero

2008-03-12T10:48:00.003-07:00

For some time now, I have been trying to implement the "Getting Things Done" strategy from David Allen. It has been hit and miss for the most part. Lately though, I have been making major improvements to my system and feel that I am getting a better handle on the "stuff" that I need to get done (Home... Work... Church...). At the beginning of the year, I typed up a one page document that I now have posted above my monitor. It is my daily reminder to spend time with God, exercise and get things done. I believe these are the main three areas that I want to grow in this year (They also have major implications beyond their surface value).

Today is a milestone in my GTD development. I have successfully emptied my work email inbox. With the use of reminders, folders and a project tracking log, I have been able to get everything out of the inbox and know that it will get done because I trust my system. For a long time, I have been able to keep the inbox under 25 items, but my new goal is 0.

Personal productivity is a huge topic on the web these days. Being able to balance life and work is increasingly difficult for many people (including me). Being able to gain control and set priorities is crucial to the balancing act. Being productive and not missing goals does not come naturally, it takes work, focus and energy.

In the end, I pray that my efforts are not for personal gain. I desire to grow and be successful in what I do. I believe that the reason and motivation make the difference though. I do not strive to build an empire for myself. I want to glorify God in all things.- This is my motivation!

Dare 2 Share

2008-03-04T16:41:00.003-07:00

This past weekend was a blast! I attended the Phoenix Dare 2 Share Conference with about 50 teens from our church. Friday night, we met at the church around 4pm. From the church, we headed downtown for the conference. We got back to the church after 11pm and stayed up past 1am. Around 7:30am, on Saturday, we headed back for the rest of the conference. Saturday was also a very late evening. Needless to say, many of us were dead on our feet.

The conference was jam-packed with great music, wonderful speakers, moving drama's and more. On Saturday afternoon, we went out into Phoenix to gather canned goods for the Phoenix Rescue Mission. With almost 4,000 teens at the conference, we gathered over 14 ton of cans! For the mathematically challenged, we gathered over 28,000 pounds of canned food!

The best part about the weekend is that lives were changed. Some of the teens at our church received Christ as their personal Savior this weekend- Awesome! It was a great time to bond with many of the teens that we now work with.

I am already looking forward to next years conference!

Weekend in Sedona!

2008-02-23T21:44:00.005-07:00

Tiffany and I are spending the weekend with Blaine and Terah in Sedona, Arizona. When the rain clouds lifted this morning, we were greeted with beautiful red rock mountains topped with snow. After adding some puffy clouds and the sun to the equation, we were able to take some great pictures. It was spectacular.

We have posted pictures of the trip on our Flickr page. Enjoy!

A Portrait of God's Love

2008-02-15T11:06:00.004-07:00

Before Tiffany and I moved to Arizona, we visited her family for Christmas. During the visit, we met Joel and Nancy. They were in the process of adopting. Their desire was to adopt siblings. Fast-forward to February 2008, early this morning (early our time), Joel and Nancy stood before a judge to adopt two children from Russia. The details of their story can be found here.

Throughout the process, Tiffany and I have had the privelege of being with Joel and Nancy in a Life group and at church. We are amazed to see what God has done in this process. The most wonderful thing about the entire adoption process is the portrait and picture that it depicts for us.

The adoption process is a portrait of God's love for each one of us. Because of God's love for us, He sent His only Son to die for us. Why did he need to send His Son for us? Because we are sinners. All of us are sinners. We have all broken God's laws and turned our backs on Him. As a result of that sin, we are eternally separated from God. The sacrifice for sin is blood. Unfortunately, our own blood is tainted by Sin. Enter Christ. God sent is Son to the earth to live a perfect life and die as our sacrifice. Here is where the adoption process comes into the picture. By receiving Christ as our Saviour, we are brought into the family of God. Once and for all, we become children of God. Christ, among His many other titles, becomes our brother. God the Father becomes our Father. What did we do to deserve it? NOTHING.

Joel and Nancy have chosen to sacrifice their comfort and lives to bring TWO children from Russia. They have been given new names, new clothes, fresh food, warmth and LOVE. What do the children pay for this? NOTHING. Joel and Nancy had to plead a case while the two children were playing with toys. The children are now going to be part of a new family. With time, they will hopefully become part of the larger family of God too.

Wow... Thank you Lord for choosing to send your Son for ME! Thank you for making me a part of your family!

40,000 Pictures and a Renaissance

2008-02-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

Tiffany and I went to the Arizona Renaissance Festival this past weeked. We had a great time walking around, looking in the shops, watching shows and eating good food. It was a gorgeous weekend to be outside. It was well into the 70's this weekend and we have a little more color to our skin now too!

While at the festival, I took my 40,000th picture with the Fujifilm S5000. This camera has been amazing over the past few years. Unfortunately, my flickr account does not come close to showing what this camera has seen. As I get some of my projects knocked off the list, I will be posting more photos to flickr. At the same time, Tiffany has a Sony camera that is moving up in mileage. Between the two camera's, we have close to 43,000 pictures centrally stored and regularly backed up.

Little Wonders of Surprise!

2008-02-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Tiffany and I went to Trumansburg to surprise my Dad. On February 7th, Dad will be turning 50 years old. A number of months ago, my step-mother began contacting us to see if we could come for a surprise party. I just "happened" to have two free tickets from bad experiences with US Air, so we agreed to make the trip.

On Friday, February 1st, Tiffany and I flew to Ithaca, NY. It was a long day and reminded us why we had free tickets from US Air to begin with. We barely made it into town. The reward for making it so late was a free car upgrade. So, we got to drive around, in the nasty snow, in a 2007 Ford Mustang (Not too impressed actually).

On Saturday, we all gathered at the church to surprise Dad. It was the first time that all of us boys, along with our wives and children, had ever been together all at once. Dad was truly surprised. It was great to have everybody together. We are all scattered around the country now, so it is very difficult to arrange this feat.

On Sunday, we all attened church together. Once again, it was great to see old friends and catch-up as much as possible. In the afternoon, we drove over to Grandpa Kelly's house to surprise him.

Monday morning was departure day for everybody. Except for Chad and April, we all gathered for breakfast before scattering.

Our trip home was long. It was a very long weekend with little sleep and less than desirable weather (I know why I live in Arizona now).

Another wonderful blessing of the weekend was meeting nephews and nieces for the first time. It's scary and wonderful to see how fast our lives change. Years go quickly. In the end, I am reminded of Rob Thomas' song titled "Little Wonders"

Let it go
Let it roll right off your shoulder
Don't you know
The hardest part is over
Let it in
Let your clarity define you
In the end
You will only just remember how it feels

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours
These small hours
Still remain

Let it slide
Let your troubles fall behind you
Let it shine,
Till you feel it all around you
And I don't mind
If it's me you need to turn to
We'll get by
It's the heart that really matters in the end

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These small hours
Still remain

All of my regret
Will wash away somehow
But I cannot forget
the way I feel right now

In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Yeah, these twisted turns of fate
Time falls away
Yeah, but these small hours,
These small hours
Still remain

Yeah, oh they still remain
These little wonders
All these twists and turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These little wonders
Still remain

Thanks for the Snow!

2008-01-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

I have just returned to Phoenix from a 10 day business trip to the East. I had a few training classes that I needed for work, so I decided to knock them both out in one trip.

So, here's the breakdown of my travel:
- January 16, 2008 - Today, I flew from Phoenix to Minneapolis to Dulles. My travel went well today, even with checked luggage.

- January 17, 2008 - I had training in Reston, Virginia today. It snowed during the training. I think we probably had about 6 inches of snow.

- January 18, 2008 - Today was a terrible day! I had a project that blew up in my face. At the same time, I was trying to keep an ear open for my training. As the day went on, I became very discouraged. My wonderful wife sent me a message that was very encouraging. I thank God for Tiffany and her words of encouragement today! On the way down to Richmond, I had to type a document for work. As such, I wound up buying a Spring Broadband Card because I needed to be on the internet (The card didn't work, so I had to use a co-workers card). A co-worker drove the car through the slow traffic. At 11:45pm, I finished the document and sent it off. It was a huge relief to turn off my computer and go to sleep. I was also very thankful that the class wound up going well. I was able to pass the certification exam without problem.

- January 19, 2008 - I spent today with Peter and Sara. Today was Peter's 29th birthday, so I joined him for breakfast, Wii playing, duck pin bowling and the Melting Pot. I also replaced my Sprint Card today, which will be very helpful on the rest of the trip. It snowed in Richmond this evening. It was pretty, but it was COLD!

- January 20, 2008 - It was a great day! I visited Immanuel today and had a great time seeing old friends. In the afternoon, I went to visit Matt and Julie. I installed Windows XP on Julie's MacBook Pro today (That was a new eXPerience for my resume!). The drive back to Northern Virginia was surprisingly smooth and nice.

- January 21, 2008 - I flew to Newark, NJ today in the middle of the day. Dulles and Newark are both dead airports in the middle of the day (Maybe it had something to do with the holiday, but I am not sure). From Newark, I drove a little north to Fair Lawn/Saddle Brook, NJ. I am bummed that my hotel does not have an operational pool right now!

- January 22, 2008 - Today was the first day of training for me at Radvision. The training went well today. There was a little bit of snow today, but nothing like the snow last week. In the evening, I hung out at a mall so I would not get bored at the hotel. I also had to do some work during the training today. We are working on a pretty big project right now and it seems to be going fairly well.

- January 23, 2008 - Nothing much to write about today. Training, dinner, relaxation at hotel.

- January 24, 2008 - Upon the completion of training today, I took a train to New York City! I really missed not having Tiffany with me in the city. I had a good time walking around Times Square, eating dinner at Junior's and pretending to shop at B&H Photo. Once the sun went down, it got really cold. I opted to head back to the hotel earlier than I wanted to, but that's ok.

- January 25, 2008 - Home at last! After a nice long flight today and after killing some time in Tempe (to avoid traffic), I safely arrived home this evening.

BOA Cards

2008-01-11T13:17:00.000-07:00

BTW- The cards arrived the next day. I am very impressed with Bank of America right now... Hopefully they will continue impressing me.

I do find it strange that they are purchasing Countrywide though... Of course, maybe they have great faith in the future of the mortgage world. Maybe they know something we don't... =)

Gmail Hiccup

2008-01-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

Google must be up to some sort of 'evil' today. This morning, as usual, I opened up Outlook to get my work email from exchange and my Gmail email via IMAP. After coming back from lunch, I noticed that Outlook was showing me a message that it could not connect to Gmail. So, I logged into Gmail and noticed that my chat feature was gone, IMAP was gone and I had the invitation box showing up again. I suspect Google accidentally reverted my account to some earlier state, but I hadn't lost any email.

While typing this article, I hit the refresh button on Gmail... Boom... Everything is back to normal. Outlook is working as normal. Chat feature is back. Invitation box is gone.

Odd...

Edit: Looks like I am not the only one having problems with Gmail.

Thank You to Bank of America!

2008-01-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

This morning, I received a telephone call from Bank of America stating they noticed possible fraudulent charges on my credit card. The call came from an automatic system, which made me a little nervous. Instead of giving my life data to the machine, I hung up and called BOA directly. After a brief wait, I was able to speak to customer service. After explaining the story, I was promptly transferred to the fraud department. After another short wait (less than 5 minutes), I was greeted by Julie C. I quickly explained the story to Julie and she let me know that they did have an automated system and that it did try to call me this morning. She looked at my account to verify that one charge appeared fradulent (It was a "test" charge for $9.22 from DIRECTPO). She then told me that they saw another charge yesterday for $890.00 coming in from a hotel/restaurant in Mexico. After verifying that I had not made either purchase, Julie informed me that she was going to close the account immediately and issue new cards. When I asked how long it would take to get the new cards, she told me that it would take 5-7 business days. I asked her if there was a faster method as I plan to travel early next week. She told me that she could ship them overnight. She then informed me that I would not be held responsible for the charges and reminded me to update my credit card information with places that might have it on file. She also let me know that all of my present charges would move to the new account and that my rewards program would also be updated.

In a day when customer service seems to be at a premium and hard to find, I would like to thank Bank of America and Julie C for the prompt attention and quick resolution to my problem.

While on the call, I was logged into my account verifying the information against Microsoft Money (I have used Money for a little over 6 years now). As soon as she told me the account was closed, I hit the refresh button and it had already been removed from my online accounts. Prompt and friendly. I then proceeded the shred my compromised credit card (BTW, I have had that credit card for more than 6 years and have not had one issue with it).

Let's see if the new cards make it by tomorrow... =)

Christmas Memories

2007-12-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

Well... There it goes... Another Christmas in the history books of life.

I really enjoyed the lead up to Christmas this year. I bombarded myself with Christmas music, was busy at church with activity and patiently waited for my Nintendo Wii that sat in a closet for the past month.

Christmas day was great too. We spent the entire day playing the Wii as a family. We ate Mexican food for dinner. We helped Pacey put his Lego airport and jet together. We enjoyed the sun being out (Even though it was a very windy day). At the end of the day, we were happy and tired.

The rememberance of Christ's birth was particularly strong this year. I really tried to concentrate on it personally and remember His birth and what it means to me. God became a man to live like a man and die like a man. God chose to become like me so He could wash away my sins and have eternal fellowship with me... Wow...

Windows Server 2008

2007-12-21T14:55:00.000-07:00

My company purchased a very nice computer for some testing I am doing. Right now, the computer is running Vista Ultimate on 4GB of RAM and an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ (Roughly 2.30 GHz). I have Virtual Server 2005 R2 running a few virtual machines. The first virtual machine is Windows Server 2003 Enterprise. The second virtual machine is Windows XP Media Center Edition. Today, I am adding a third machine to the mix: Windows Server 2008 RC! I purchased an Intel Quad Ethernet card for the computer. With the card, I am able to assign an individual ethernet cable to each virtual machine (I had to mess around with settings of each port to be able to assign them to an individual VM).

Man... I am such a geek! I love technology!

When I am done, I will have 4 computers running in one box... How cool is that?!

Vegas Vacation

2007-12-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was my 27th birthday. Tiffany and I took off Friday and spent the weekend in Las Vegas, NV. We are part of the Bluegreen Vacation Club and were able to stay in Vegas for CHEAP! The drive was nice and included a trip accross the Hoover Dam.

Most of our time was spent walking around to see everything- Trust me, we walked a lot! We also visited the Stratosphere and saw a great view of the city. On the way home, we visited the Hoover Dam for a while (Amazing!).

We had a great time and hope to visit again (We may actually have a couple opportunities in 2008 due to conferences).

Christmas Gift from Blockbuster

2007-12-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

Tiffany and I have been fans of Blockbuster Total Access for a while now. We originally used Netflix until Blockbuster came out with a deal that blew Netflix away... We were paying 17.99/month, got 3 movies at a time, could exchange them in the store for a few movie, plus, we got one free GAME or movie per month. It was a steal. A few months ago, Blockbuster decided to change the plan on everybody. OK. So now we could only exchange 5 movies per month and we no longer got the free game. Well, Blockbuster, who is failing miserably, has given us a Christmas gift. Now, we get to pay $2 more per month for the same service. Some people are paying even more! On top of that, half the movies that we have in the queue have had "long wait" listed next to them for months now....

Sorry Blockbuster, but I think Netflix has won back my business. Netflix has the leg up now. We can get 3 movies at a time for $3 less than Blockbuster. On top of that, we can watch movies over the internet. Since we have a great internet connection and decent monitors, this will be good. Sure, we do not get to go into Blockbuster now to trade DVD's, but that's ok... It will save on gas! =)

November Happenings

2007-12-01T21:25:00.001-07:00

Well, there goes November... Right out the door...

Thanksgiving was very nice this year. Not just because I got two days off of work (Although it was very nice), but because it is always a great time to stop and give thanks. Although the story of the first Thanksgiving is always questioned, the truth remains that we are a very blessed nation and people and should always thank or Lord and Creator for what He has done for us.

November was also the beginning of long practices for the annual Dinner Theater at our new church. Most of the family is involved in one fashion or another this year. We have spent many hours at church lately preparing for the event. Tiffany is singing in the choir for the event and I am running a spot light. The drama portion of the event is great. We are praying that people will come to know the Lord as a result of this event and Christmas season.

Finally, I spent a few days in Virginia earlier this week. I have been working on a large project for some time now and this trip to Virginia helped move the project forward. I am very excited to be in my present role and the opportunities that are being presented. I pray that the Lord will continue to help me grow in my technical skills and professional skills.

December is going to be crazy.... Dinner Theater... Birthday trip to Las Vegas... Christmas.... Plans for a new year... Here we go!

RAIN!!!

2007-12-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

AHHHHH!!!! It has been a scary sight to see the past two days. We have received a TON of rain. Since moving to Phoenix, Arizona, we have not see it rain yet. I was beginning to think that rain did not exist in this part of the US. Boy was I wrong! Aparently, this has been the single largest precipitation event in 10 years for the valley. Yesterday, it practically rained non stop for the entire day. Today, we had some strong busts of rain and wind during the day.

We are not allowed to talk about the frozen form of rain, but I heard that there is some on the ground just a couple hours North of here... =) I cannot wait to see the Grand Canyon with white on it!

At any rate, I figured rain in Phoenix was a blog worth event... The cold front pushing it was something too since it is about 50 degrees outside right now... Brrrr... Cold and rain... Yuck!

Orlando Vacation

2007-11-19T09:32:00.001-07:00

Tiffany and I just got back from a wonderful vacation to Orlando, Florida. Tiffany has been a couple times, but this was my first time going. I was very excited to "be a kid again" and visit Universal Studio's and Disney World. At the end of each day, we spent a few minutes writing down thoughts from the day so we could blog about it and also for our own memory sake. Tiffany is sorting through the pictures presently and we hope to get some up on Flickr shortly (We took nearly 3,000 pictures - Tiffany took most of them on this trip). Below is a day by day breakdown of what we remember most!

Saturday, November 3
Today, we began our journey to Orlando, Florida. We left Phoenix early in the morning and arrived in Florida in the late afternoon. Our rental car was a 2008 Pontiac G6 and we stayed at the Orlando Sunshine Resort. Today, we just relaxed at the resort and tried to get a good night sleep. We were very thankful for the time change being this weekend so we would only have to adjust 2 hours instead of 3 (Arizona doesn't change time).

Sunday, November 4
Today, we visited Disney's Animal Kingdom! Since this year is the "Year of a Million Dreams," Tiffany and I won front row parking at the Animal Kingdom. A small prize to win, but a prize nonetheless. The weather was beautiful and we had time to make our way around the park to everything we wanted to ride and see. They had a new "Finding Nemo" show and we loved it! We went on a Safari in the park and saw animals up close. For dinner, we ate at the Rainforest Cafe. I received a "First Visit" pin today that I plan to wear at each park.

Monday, November 5
Disney's Epcot Center was the park of the day. By far, the best ride of all was "Test Track." By the end of the day, we had been on it 4 times. We also road on Soarin'. Not only did you feel like you were flying, but they even added scent to the experience. The countries of Epcot are very well done. Everything feels very authentic and fun. There was a food tasting festival while we were there and we took advantage of that. We also took advantage of the Fast Pass program that Disney offers. It was great getting an assigned time to be on a ride instead of standing in line! The rides are amazing at Disney. They go out of there way to add incredible detail to each ride and line. The atmosphere was very energetic and fun at this park. At the end of the day, we enjoyed a spectacular fireworks show. Of all the parks, Epcot had the best fireworks.

Tuesday, November 6
Day 4 of our adventure took us to Universal's Islands of Adventures. The park seemed like a ghost town most of the day. Consequently, we practically walked on and off every ride with little to no wait. We ate lunch at the famous Mythos restaurant at Islands of Adventures. This was the first time either of us had been to this park, so it was new for both of us. We conquered Islands so fast that we went next door to Universal Studio's for a few hours. It was nice to have an early evening and attempt to get some rest.

Wednesday, November 7
This morning, we decided to grab breakfast at Ponderosa. It wasn't too bad for a low priced buffet. After breakfast, we headed to Universal Studio's to enjoy more short lines and fun rides. Today, we actually purchased Dippin Dots (They are terribly high priced, so we never buy them). We enjoyed all of the rides at Universal. They had free lockers to place our belongings in so we didn't have to sit our stuff on the other side of the ride (Great idea Universal!). After we were done enjoying the park, we took pictures at the worlds largest Hard Rock cafe and then went to Downtown Disney for dinner. We ate at Planet Hollywood. Our feet were dead at the end of the day.

Thursday, November 8
Today was spent at Disney's MGM Studio's. Like we did most days, we arrived just as the park opened and rushed over the the Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster. It was a pretty good ride. We took a "backlot" tour also and were able sit in on a special effects demonstration- WOW! For lunch, we ate at a 50's restaurant. Everything was authentic inlcuding the wait staff ("No elbows on the tables," "Take off your hat inside mister."). We saw two amazing stunt shows and "learned" how they do some of the effects and stunts. The first show was Indiana Jones and the second one was a car stunt show. We also went to a "learn how to draw" session and both drew Goofy- It was a lot of fun. At the end of the night we watch the fireworks show called Fantasmic- It was pretty good too.

Friday, November 9
Today was all about Disney's Magic Kingdom. We were finally able to ride in on the famous monorail (Only because the parking lot is so far away from the Magic Kingdom). Our first ride was Space Mountain closely followed by the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor (A very funny show!). During the day, we made it around to all of the major rides and attractions at Magic Kingdom. The lines were not too bad, even though there were a lot of people at the park. The first time we rode Splash Mountain, we did not get wet. Somebody gave us a Fast Pass, so we decided to ride it a second time. On the second trip through, we got soaked. Thankfully, the weather was warm and we were able to dry off comfortably. Speaking of the Fast Pass, for some reason, the Peter Pan ride had 60 minute wait times while we were there. We grabbed a Fast Pass and came back later in the day. When we returned, our Fast Pass got us in and out of the ride in 8 minutes, but the line was still 60 minutes long. The Fast Pass is a must at Disney! For lunch, we had a delicious Philly Cheese Steak (Yummmm!). In the evening, I went back out to the car to get our sweatshirts and Mickey Mouse ears (Yeah- I got the lightup ones so I could be a big kid). On the way back from the car, I rode the ferry instead of the monorail, it was pretty nice. We had our names sewn into the back of our Mickey Mouse ears. We also bought a pair for our niece and nephew back in Arizona. The fireworks show was pretty good this evening. I still think that Epcot has the better show. After fireworks, we watched the Spectromagic evening parade with electric lights - It was pretty neat. Today was a very long day and we took a ton of pictures. We also took advantage of short lines in the evening and had our pictures taken with a bunch of characters (Mikey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Princesses).

Saturday, November 10
Today was the longest day of our vacation. We arrived at Magic Kingdom around 8:30am and did not leave until 12:15am the next morning. We did not make it back to the hotel until 1:00am on Sunday. When we arrived at the park, we rode in a horse drawn carriage up to Cinderella's Castle. It was a lot of fun. We even had some guys singing on the back of the carriage. We were also able to ride on the large show boat. We went to the Monster's show again and I had to dance while on screen (I am sure my dancing was enough to make people laugh to death). We watched a different parade today and saw the fireworks again. During the President's show, one of the projectors melted the film, so we had to leave and come back later. At midnight, Tiffany and I kissed in front of the castle while having our picture taken, it was fun. We had a fantasic day and a wonderful vacation!

Sunday, November 11
Today started well and ended well, unfortunately, the middle of the day wasn't the greatest. We made great time getting the the airport and taking care of the car and security. When we got on the airplane though, we had to sit for about 2 hours waiting for a maintenance issue to be fixed. Unfortunately, that made us miss our connecting flight. Forunately, we were able to catch a later flight back to Phoenix. As a special treat, we actually received a sandwich on the airplane! It was a nice little touch from Continental (I guess they actually server food on some flights still- It felt like winning the lottery). We made it home safely with all of our belongings and memories. We had a fantastic time on this vacation and thank the Lord for providing time and money to take the vacation.

Final facts
Miles walked: 40 (Estimate using Google Earth)
Pictures taken: 2,733
Memories created: Thousands

Hacking the MyBook World Edition II

2007-10-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased a 1Tb Western Digital MyBook World Edition II NAS (Wow, that is a mouth full). For some odd reason, I was not immediately content with the drive and wanted to play around with it. I began searching and stumbed upon http://mybookworld.wikidot.com/. As a result of this webpage, and some poking, my Linux skills have been rekindled. It has been so long since I did anything with Linux.

I am finalizing my setup of the drive and plan to use it as the central storage device for my network (So I do not need to run from computer to computer trying to find a file). One of the neat features is that I can connect a non-network external hard drive to this device using USB. I plan to set up my network so all computers backup to the NAS and then the NAS can backup to my external hard drive. After running the backup (At some specified interval), I can take the external drive and put it in my fire proof safe!

Protecting data is very important... If you do not regularly backup your data, you should consider doing it. It is a terrible feeling when you lose important work or digital pictures.

Upcoming Vacation to Orlando

2007-10-28T16:05:00.001-07:00

Finally, after 27 years (Minus a month), I am going to Disney World and Universal Studios!

On Saturday (November 3), Tiffany and I will fly from Phoenix to Orlando. Our lodging and flights were virtually free, leaving us to pay for a car, food and park tickets (Which I just bought online).

We will return to Phoenix on November 11.

A Year Ago Today

2007-10-26T20:08:00.001-07:00

I have been trying to "Get Things Done" for a long time now. At work lately, I have had to get things done at a rapid pace and lead a team on "the impossible project." As a result of the increased productivity, I have decided to try and apply what I have been learning to my personal life. This evening, I began working on my personal tracking log and building my system. I decided to write a blog article about it to begin journalling my progress.

When I logged into blogger this evening, I decided to look back at an article I wrote sometime back. What I found was neat. I discovered that I wrote the article exactly one year ago today. God was working in weird and silent ways during that time. My mind was racing with thoughts and ideas. It is interesting that I am in the same place today.

God is working in my life. I do not know what he is doing right now, but I know he is working. I have learned an incredible amount over the past year. I thank Him for how he works in our lives.

I look forward to each day and what He has in store! I look forward to getting things done for Him!

I pray that He will help me work on this system and make it a tool that I can use for His glory.

Of Skeet and Fair

2007-10-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

Today is the end of a very nice weekend for Tiffany and I.

On Friday afternoon, Tiffany and I went to the Arizona State Fair. I wouldn't rate it as the best State Fair that I have been to, but it was worth the 5 bucks. We saw some live entertainment, ate some great food and enjoyed being together.

On Saturday, Tiffany went on a 7 mile hike with her mom, sister and another lady from our church. While they were hiking, I went skeet shooting with some of the men from the church. I have a nice bruise from the event, but not much else to brag about.

Today is Tiffany's 27th birthday. We had a little surprise party with some new friends at church. It is nice that we are integrating quickly because we miss Richmond people!!

The American Dream

2007-10-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

I should have titled this "The NEW American Dream."

As of 8:50 PM (Arizona Time) on Monday, October 15, 2007, Tiffany and I are now completely debt free! We were very happy when we realized we were there. It was a great feeling pressing the transfer button one last time!

We can only praise the Lord for how he is blessing us. Where we are today is only by his grace and his wonderful gifts to us. Praise Him!!

The Move

2007-10-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to sit down and write in my blog for a while. We have had so much happen over the past month or so and I want to document it.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

I woke up early and met our moving truck at a truck stop. I observed the empty weight of the truck and headed home with the enormous truck behind me. When we got to our road, the driver could not make the turn (I knew right then that the day was going to be long).

The moving company, at our expense, sent a smaller truck to pick up our belongings. After the small truck loaded up, I followed them back to the big truck. The two trucks pulled up next to each other, setup a ramp and began moving the goods from one to another. During the process, they realized that they had forgotten to take an inventory (A point from which we intend to leverage an apology). So, they had to unload the little truck onto the pavement at a truck stop! Let me repeat that: All of our belongings were unloaded at a truck stop onto the GROUND!

After many hours, the big truck was packed and ready to go. I followed the driver to the scales again to check the "full" weight. Ooops! We were quoted that the weight would be 3,000 pounds. It wound up being 4,900 pounds... OUCH! More weight=More $$

I signed a few papers and watched everything drive off into the distance.

Saturday, September 1

After having a great final week in Richmond and saying way too many goodbye's, Tiffany and I departed for Arizona. We left that morning from her Grandparents in our green, 1995 Chrysler Concorde, with almost 200,000 miles on it and a fresh oil change. We drove to Winston-Salem, NC on the first day.

In Winston-Salem, we saw a few old friends and stayed with my former Pastor from New York. We had a great time catching up.

Sunday, September 2

We drove to Pigeon Forge, TN. We made great time all day, until we hit Pigeon Forge. Traffic is TERRIBLE in Pigeon Forge.

Monday, September 3

Dollywood... Good times!

Tuesday, September 4

Left Pigeon Forge early in the morning to visit some friends at Bryan College (Bryan College is about 2.61 miles from the middle of nowhere). The rest of the day was spent driving across the massive state of Tennessee. In the evening, we stopped in Memphis for some good ole BBQ. It was finger licking good!

The rest of the day was spent driving in the rain to Little Rock, AR. We were very tired by the end of this day.

Wednesday, September 5

Drove to Oklahoma City, OK. It stopped raining just as we entered Oklahoma... Sorry Arkansa, but you left a bad impression on us. Does it always rain there? =)

We visited the Oklahoma City memorial for the Federal Building that was attacked in 1995. It was an honor to be able to visit the site and remember those who lost there lives that day.

From OKC we drove to Amarillo, TX for a nice rest.

Somewhere in all of this, our airconditioning stopped working... Let's see... Moving to Phoenix, Arizona... Doesn't it get hot there?

Thursday, September 6

We only had one goal today- Get to Truth or Consequences, NM. We had a great evening soaking in the natural hot springs that this town has to offer. We were right at the Rio Grande and had a perfect view of the stars and mountians!

Friday, September 7

Ate breakfast at "BBQ on Broadway," in T or C. Ironic, but true. At about Noon, we crossed the Continental Divide (Not much to see in the middle of New Mexico). At about 6:40PM, Tiffany and I pulled up to our new home in Avondale, Arizona. All Praise to God for a safe journey, a smooth ride and the same car we left home in!

During our travels, the truck had already arrived in Arizona and unloaded. A few items were broken, but nothing major. The best part is that all of our stuff made it, plus some... Yup, we received other people's stuff, in addition to our stuff.

Friday, October 8

(One month has gone by and we still have the other people's stuff... I hate moving companies!)

As I sit here today, watching dust storms blow by, I cannot help but praise God for what he is doing in our lives. We have settled into the house well and are getting along with the family. My home office is setup and I have finished the first month at my new job. Church is also busy already. I am doing sound and lighting while Tiffany is singing in the choir and preparing for a major dinner theater in December. God is so good to us and is blessing us in ways that always keep us amazed!

We hope to put up pictures of the trip on Flickr soon. It has been a long road getting through all of the "To Do List's" related to this cross country move.

Well, I better finish this post now... I need to eat dinner now and start writting my complaints to the moving company.. Looks like they messed up our billing too.

Flying!!

2007-08-27T06:37:00.000-07:00

Finally... I was able to fly this weekend! My friend met me at the Hanover Airport on Friday evening for an hour flight around the area. It was great getting back into an airplane and flying. I got to taxi, takeoff, fly and land the airplane (For the most part)!! We flew over my house and places of work. We also flew up the James River for a while. We had been planning this flight for a month or so. Due to the violent thunderstorms lately, we have had to cancel a few times.

Tiffany and I also spent time at Busch Gardens and Smithfield, VA this weekend. We had a great time with friends on both trips. It was HOT HOT HOT at Busch Gardens. The good thing about HOT HOT days at BG is that everybody stays home or leaves early!

Smithfield was also neat. It has a great small town Virginia feel to it!

It was nice having one last weekend to enjoy Virginia. This is our last week living in this great state (edit: Commonwealth instead of state...)!

Satirical Look at Craigslist

2007-08-27T06:23:00.000-07:00

My wife and I have been using craigslist.com for a while now. With our move to Phoenix looming, I thought it would be fun to create a "tips and tricks" list for navigating craigslist. At first, I wanted to create a serious list that people would find on Google and praise me for.. But then I thought that it would be even better to create a satirical view of this topic in the form of a top ten list. You need to have a sense of humor when using this site. If you do not have a sense of humor, stay away...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I now present the top ten tips to buying and selling craigslist.com:

10) Always post your items for sale and then leave on vacation for a week...
9) Delete your item every morning and repost it to stay at the top of the list...
8) Line up 3 appointments for the same item... Somebody is bound to buy it!
7) Do not notify the other 2 people that the item sold...
6) Pay for your item on PayPal and then never show up to pick it up...
5) Post your email, phone number, address and social security number on the ad...
4) Never delete your ads, even after an item has sold...
3) Send an email to every poster asking "Has this item sold?" Then, when they reply saying, "No, are you interested," do not ever reply...
2) Always assume that people are honest, nice and helpful...

Drum Roll...

1) Send 48 emails telling how interested you are in an item and then never show up for your appointment(s)!

Long Night

2007-08-17T07:23:00.000-07:00

So... I was supposed to go flying last night with a friend from Richmond. I was very excited about the flight. We planned to fly around the Richmond area and I was going to take a bunch of pictures.

About the time I was supposed to head to the airport, a storm started rolling in... So much for flying...

For at least 8 hours, that storm pelted Richmond with rain, lightning and thunder. It was an AMAZING act of God. I do not think I have ever seen so much lightning in my life. It was constant for hours and hours. We stepped outside during parts of it to watch the bolts flying.

I didn't sleep a wink last night as a result of this storm. Just about the time I fell asleep, another bolt would hit nearby and... BABOOM... I would be awake again.

Just after the storm started, we drove by a local Target. They are in the middle of adding onto the store. The fenses around the store and scaffolding had fallen... That must have been some wind!

I will never forget standing outside watching the lightning... What an amazing Creator we serve!

Who says you can't go home?

2007-08-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

Whew... Another quick trip is in the history books. This past weekend, Tiffany and I drove up to the GORGES Ithaca, NY to visit family. On the way up, we picked up my mother. Friday evening, we went over to my dad's house for a yummy roast and to catch up. On Saturday, Chad, Matthew, Dad and I went down to the lake to go Kayaking. We had a great time! At the same time, Tiffany and the ladies had a baby shower for April. Later that evening, we all enjoyed summer with a little cookout. On Sunday, we made the long trek home.

Tiffany and I opted to camp at Buttermilk Falls this time. We set the tent up in record time (Thanks for the help Chad) while it was RAINING. The evenings were cool, so it was great sleeping weather. The rain was easy to clean out of the tent...

Ding... On to the next trip...

The BIG news...

2007-07-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

I realized that I alluded to some news in an earlier post, but I never gave the news...

**Drum Roll**

Tiffany and I are moving to Phoenix, Arizona on September 1!! We are very excited about the move. We will miss our Richmond friends dearly, but this is a great opportunity for us. I will continue working for my present company, but with a new role. It is nice having a job when making a cross-country move!!

Random Call

2007-07-30T06:48:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, we went to 6 Flags in Maryland with a couple friends... First of all, 6 Flags America hires the slowest employee's in the world. The lines were short, but the wait's were long.

On the way home, I decided to call my good friend Bekah. It had been a number of months since we talked. She answered the phone and announced that she had just had a baby about 5 hours earlier... She said that she was just about to call me to give the news. How cool it is when this happens. Two people happen to be thinking about each other at the same time! At any rate, congratulations Bekah. See you next weekend!

Facebook

2007-07-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

I have fallen prey to the internet rave that is Facebook.com... The neatest thing about it is finding people that I haven't talked to in MANY years. Cool!

ZOOM (The sound of time flying by)

2007-07-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

Wow... It's been a long time since this blog was updated. Busy doesn't describe how crazy the past few months have been. Here's the quick update:

1)In April, after going to Dallas, Jim flew up to Toronto for a few meetings. It was rainy, snowy and cold!

2) At the end of April, we both went up to New York City for a mini-vacation. We had a great time! Broadway and fancy meals are always great! We took a 3 hour tour around the city and flew up on JetBlue (GREAT DEAL!)

3) A couple weeks later, Jim flew back up to New York City for work. Other than hours of delays on the ground, the trip was great. Jim visited a restaurant called Maremma and enjoyed a wonderful meal!

4) We have been on three camping trips this summer with at least one more planned in August. Two of the camping trips were on the John H. Kerr Dam and Reservoir in Virginia and one of the camping trips was at James River State Park. All of the trips were highly relaxing and fun.

5) On April 25, Jim celebrated his second anniversary with his company. By most statistics, he is an old timer at his job!

6) The beginning of May was spent in Jamestown, Virginia, celebrating America's 400th Anniversary. We both participated with the DDXG special event station. A great time was had by all!

7) The end of May had Jim traveling again. This time, Jim spent a few days in Boston for work.

8) In the middle of June, Jim flew to Anaheim, California for InfoComm. He had a gerat time meeting the "who's Who" of the A/V industry.

During all of this, we have been working on some new plans for the near future... More about that in the next post...

Stay tuned!

Again?

2007-04-03T18:27:00.000-07:00

Yeah... So, it's official.. I only blog when I travel. Guess what that means? I am traveling right now. Where am I now??

Well, I am in a part of the country that is having severe thunderstorms, amazing lightning and possible tornado's in the area... Dallas, TX...

This is my third trip to Dallas in the past few months. I enjoy the travel, but it is increasingly difficult as of late. What makes it particularly difficult is that the rest of my work does not go away when I travel (Remember, I am doing two people's jobs right now). Add in a couple of high priority issues we have had this week and you get a recipe for a mess.... I am tired and beat lately. I am really praying for some relief soon. It's hard to face each day...

The best part about all of this though is that no matter how hard the stress may be, I can find REST in my Lord! It is so wonderful to read the Word right now and talk to God right now and sing... It doesn't mask the stress or even get rid of it all, but it helps to know where my faith is. It helps to know that this is all temporary!

Toto and Dorthy

2007-03-24T04:41:00.000-07:00

Toto and Dorthy did not have problems getting out of Kansas, but I did... Well, I am having problems getting out. The flight coming from Charlotte yesterday was delayed due to a small pox scare (see links below). So, I got a free meal and an extra night stay from US Air... Let's see if I can make it home today...

Small Pox 1
Small Pox 2

Ummm... Toto?

2007-03-22T17:26:00.000-07:00

So... For some reason, the only time I think to blog now is when I am traveling... So, here I am again.

Tiffany is presently in Arizona visiting her family. She is having a great time and I am jealous to say the least. So, I managed to score a couple more trips out of town to stay busy (Not that I need any help- I am presently doing the job of two people).

Today, I took the 6am flight out of Richmond and flew to Charlotte, NC. Once in Charlotte, I quickly made my way to the other end of the airport (Picking up a Jamba Juice on the way) only to find out that my plane to Kansas City had been delayed. Well, we eventually got on the airplane only to find out that there were 20 other planes in front of us (Which is not normal for Charlotte). Well, we eventually pulled out on the runway only to find out that there was a mechanical problem with the plane. So, they took us back to the gate (But didn't let us off the plane) and fixed the problem. OK... Eventually, I wound up in Kansas City. But, they did not have a car in my class... But, they did have a Jeep Wrangler to upgrade me to!

See, if I had arrived earlier, I would have wound up with something less wonderful than the Jeep... Of course, if I had gone to Arizona instead, I would have a tan right now... =)

This trip is actually going to be a quick one. I will be back home by tomorrow night. The good news is that we are finally getting the proper processes and procedures in place to install and certify these systems quickly. As a reward for this new found success, I get to go to Boston and Dallas again within the next two weeks.

Whew... Talk about a crash course education. My head feels like its full. I think stuff is starting to spill out the back. No, really... Does somebody have a plug?

Change for dollar?

2007-03-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

Hmmm... It looks like it has been a while since I last posted... Let's see, has anything changed since Dallas? Yup! February 2007 will go down in history as being one of the fastest and most crazy months of my life!

I spent two weeks of February in training. The training took place in Reston, Virginia. As a result of this training, I now have two more certifications to tack on my name- TCTA and TCTE. What do they mean? TCTA is Tandberg Certified Technical Associate and TCTE is Tandberg Certified Technical Expert... A mouthful for sure and a ton of fun!

In the process of enjoying the two classes, I got food poisoning- Yeah! At the same time, my co-worker/mentor decided to move on to another company. What does that mean for me? MORE WORK and a ton of change! The range of emotions from this change have been varied. Sometimes, I think I can conquer the world and do both my job and his job. Other times, I feel overwhelmed and beat down.

I have been trying to focus though on something that does not change... Life can change fast and it can be seriously uncomfortable. Nevertheless, I want to remain optimistic and hopeful. But my hope and optimism is not some false feel good move to make it through the day or cope. I have hope in Lord! My hope in the Lord is sure and firm. It's not false or fickle. He doesn't promise that life will be easy, but He does promise to be with us. I am choosing to be faithful at work and work as hard as I can and leave the rest up to Him. I could choose to give up and walk away, but that is not the choice that I want to make. I have more to learn in this position and I am learning it for a larger purpose.

Change is part of growth and growth requires change. God is preparing Tiffany and I for something. We do not know what it is, but we know that changes like this and difficult times are part of the process.

I have been teaching Sunday School lately and we have been talking about growing and changing. It is fun to teach 7th, 8th, 9th graders some of the very lessons that I am trying to apply to my own life. It makes it so much more real.

Another area of change was noticed this past weekend. We drove down to Winston-Salem to visit friends from college. During this one weekend, we found out that two of our friends are pregnant now, another couple has choosen a mission field to serve on and yet another couple is leaving for the mission field next month. Seeing life changes in our friends causes us to ask questions and wonder what is next in our lives...

Change comes quickly. We are choosing to find our rest in the One that does not change....

Professional Traveler

2007-01-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

I think I am officially a pro at traveling...

I am sitting in Dallas right now installing and certifying yet another video conferencing system. This installation has gone fairly well and has been fun to work on.

Tiffany also came to Dallas with me for the week. She has been learning the DART system well and has been able to get around and see some of Dallas.

It seems odd to me, but it is presently snowing here. I though Texas was supposed to be warm? Of course, I am not surprised now, especially knowing the fact that Phoenix, AZ had ice last week... Wow....

Flying to Dallas, I was able to experience something new, I flew direct from Richmond to DFW. That was my first time on a direct flight! It was nice to not have a connection.

My rental car has the NeverLost system in it.... Guess what? It got me lost... Not once, but twice so far. Normally, I print of directions to everything and have lots of maps, but it has been nice telling my GPS what to do and where to go. The voice is a little annoying at times... We call her "Betty."

Well, it is time for some lunch now and I am hungry!

Out of BETA?!

2007-01-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

Wow... This is new.. Google has moved Blogger out of BETA. Google likes to cook its beta projects for a long time (An excellent idea I might add). I decided to upgrade this particular blog to see how smooth the process was and I must say I am very happy!

The biggest improvement is the flexibility of the templates (A needed improvement).

Thanks Google!!

Ahhh... Flying Again

2007-01-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

The past couple months have been busy... Ok. No realy surprise there, so I am not going to belabor that point.

At the end of December, Tiffany and I flew to Arizona for Christmas. We had a great time visiting family and relaxing for a while. I few back earlier than Tiff since I was out of vacation time. Tiff was able to stay for a few extra days.

Arizona was actually on the cool side while we were there. In fact, it was warmer back home than it was in Phoenix... Go figure.

Speaking of warm.. Yesterday, January 6, 2007 it almost hit 80 degrees in RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.... That's right.. Our little old Richmond was gorgeous. We took advantage of the day and walked on the flood wall. BTW, the flood wall is a must see in Richmond. I cannot believe we have missed it all of these years.

Right now, I am sitting in the Richmond airport. I am flying to San Fransisco today for business. It's nice to fly when the tab is on somebody else! This increased travel comes with the increasing responsibility I am coming into at work. Everyday is a different day and I am loving it. I have learned so much over the past year and I am glad that it is paying off.

Not so fun...

2006-12-15T12:48:00.000-07:00

Tiffany was involved in a 3 car accident a few days ago. The person in front of her stopped on the interstate. As a result, Tiff rear ended the car and in turn was rear ended by a car behind her. Tiffany walked away from the accident with some bruises and soreness, but she was ok otherwise. The car, on the other hand, will not survive (It looks pretty bad).

It was very scary when I received the call from her. She had just dropped me off at work and I rushed to the scene with a guy from work. It was terrible getting through the traffic to get to my wife. I felt desperate and helpless. When I got to the scene, I rushed up to Tiff and held her close...

It is times like these that remind me what is important in life.... But I should not wait for times like these. It is scary to think about the accident and see the scene in my head. It is scary to think about what could have happened. The fact remains though- God is in control! He has a reason for this accident. He has a reason for totaling the car that we just bought... The questions should not be, "Why did you do this God?" Instead, the question should be, "How can we use this to glorify God?"

Happenings as of Late

2006-12-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I made a post to the blog... Primarily, there has not been anything exciting to report. That being said, would you like to know what we have been doing?

Well, we traveled up to New York for Thanksgiving. On the way up, we picked up my mom. About 30 miles from my brothers house, our car died... The good news is that we were at the right exit, so we pulled off into a BP station. Upon examination, I discovered that the belt had come off the car. I called my brother and he came to the rescue. When he looked at it, the belt was ok, but the pulley had given up the ghost.

We left the car for the day and enjoyed the rest of Thanksgiving with Mom, my brother and my sister in law. It was a nice day and good to be with family.

The next day, my brother and I traveled back to the car and discovered... Just kidding.. The car was fixed in about 5 minutes. My brothers mechanical skills came to the rescue.

On Friday, Tiffany and I spent some time with a friend of mine from high school. It was great hanging out and catching up on Trumansburg news as of late. It is so much fun getting together with friends... Especially when you have not seen each other in years.

With the cold weather starting in Central Virginia, we are getting excited about our Christmas trip to Arizona. Tiffany's parents moved to Phoenix this year so we decided to have a warm Christmas (Not as warm as last years, but still nice).

Oh yeah... One bit of exciting news is that we had to replace our cell phones last week (They were getting a bit on the old side....). Upon further examination, we discovered that the best deal was the MotoRazr V3M... So, that is what we bought (After rebates, etc. they will wind up being FREE).

Well, I better put my nose back on the grind stone now so I can continue Getting Things Done...

Richmond Flood!

2006-11-20T05:22:00.000-07:00

Wow! We had quite a flood last week here in Richmond. We had a ton of rain on November 16th. It was also very windy that day which added to the problem. The wind caused most of the leaves to fall out of the trees. Coupled with the extra water from the rain, we had perfect conditions for floods and flash floods. I was able to leave work early that day, so I decided to drive around to the low areas I knew of and take some pictures. I have posted them on Flickr under the "Weather" section of our page.

Water is amazing and this flooding was also amazing. I am glad I was able to capture some of it in pictures. I was not able to get down to the city of Richmond though. I understand that there was some pretty major flooding down there.

Hershey, PA

2006-11-20T05:18:00.000-07:00

Tiffany and I own with Bluegreen Vacation Club. We recently discovered a resort they own in Hershey, PA. After doing a quick search, we realized that Hershey was closer than we thought. So, we packed our bags and headed up to Hershey on November 9 (Just a few days after getting back from Toronto). We had a great weekend relaxing and taking in the touristy destinations (Minus the theme park as it was closed). It is nice to be able to get away for a weekend once in a while. It helps set work aside and relax.

We had some friends join us on the trip and that always adds to the fun!

On the way home, we stopped in Maryland to see my mom. We called her when we were at her exit to tell her we wanted lunch! See was surpised and happy to see us.

Another Trip to Toronto

2006-11-20T05:11:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of traveling to Toronto again at the beginning of this month. I traveled for business this time as we were installing a new videoconferencing room in the city. The best part about the trip was the evening I got to take the client out to dinner. My company had me take the client and the installation team to the 360 Restaurant in the CN Tower. The food was pretty good, but the view was spectacular! The restaurant rotates once every 72 minutes. Final bill: $475 (For four people!)

Toronto is a great city and I am glad that I was able to travel there for work. I might be going again early in 2007. We will be moving a bunch of systems to a new building a few blocks away, so it will be a fairy major project! I hope I can go and bring Tiff with me.

Dilbert Has a Voice!

2006-10-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

I have grown to love the Dilbert comics over the past year or so... Mainly because they are incredibly true in a twisted sort of way.

About 18 months ago, the creator of Dilbert lost his ability to speak. This month, he regained his ability to speak and has a very interesting post about it on his blog.

Stories like this just go to prove how amazingly intricate the human body is... God has created an amazing thing in us and this proves it. This story is so interesting to me.

Orbiting the Giant Getting Things Done Ball...

2006-10-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

(Please note: I began writting this a couple months back. I had a lot on my mind and heart and the time and I still feel it is important to post this now)

I have been learning a lot about myself and this world lately. Due to my desire to not sit still, I have experienced just about every piece of the VTC team at work. By constantly raising my hand and wanting to be involved, I have been able to experience more than my job description allows. Management has gone along with it for want of seeing work get done and lack of people wanting to get involved. The other day, a colleague handed me a book by Gordon MacKenzie titled "Orbiting the Giant Hairball." I was immediately engrossed in the book and I was not sure why. About half way through the book, I began to understand something about myself that I had not been able to articulate until now.

I have always had this unsettled feeling about the future. Where am I going? What am I doing? What steps need to be taken? But I constantly read that I should be entrusting my ways to the Lord and letting him direct my paths. I like that! But at the same time, not having direction has made me uncomforatble. Probably because we all have this comfort zone in the Hairball and want to feel secure in what is known. Pressure comes from all sides to make decisions and choose a path. Fit this mold. Do this. Don't do this. But I have this nagging feeling that there is more to life.

True, it is important to have some form and structure (We have a whole Bible filled with it), but there is the creative and artistic side that we tend to avoid (The Bible was also filled with that). Where am I going with this? Spirit of the Law, not letter of the law....

God has created each one of us with a mind to think. To grow. To be creative. Look at His creation! Amazing! Beautiful! Creative.... He didn't design robots to fit a certain mold. He didn't create the mindless machine of a corporation. He created beauty and intelligence. It fits within certain guidelines, true, but there is a freedom within it. We call it "Christian Liberty" or something like that. Nevertheless, it too has some guide posts, but is largely free. We squeeze into these boxes and follow steps in life. Go to college. Climb the ladder. And above all else, do NOT color outside the lines.

As I look back over my life, I can honestly say that I have not colored inside the lines (Most of time). My life has not been normal (If there is such a thing). I do know though that I am right where God wants me right now. How did I get here though? I could write a whole book tracing backwards and would still come up with the same questions. I took risks, I followed my heart which was guided by my mind and God. Luck? Chance? No way! God has a plan and He will see it through the end! I know that God wants to use me and He wants me to glorify Him. That's why He created me- To glorify Him. The best part about glorifying God is that it is incredibly fun! Sure, it gets hard at times and there are some bumps in the road, but it is awesome overall.

Life is too short on this earth and I do not intend to sit still and let it pass me by. I want to glorify God and have a great time doing it too. I want to get things done for the Lord and see His kingdom grow. If I choose not to be part of that, I will miss out on the greatest joy of life. God's work will be done whether I choose to help or not. I'm diving in! I want to paint a masterpiece for God with this canvas of life he has given to me! Who am I? I am a child of God, placed on this earth for such a time as this. My interests are varied and change often. I have a desire to gather information and process it. When it all comes to an end though, the only part of my life that will carry on is what yielded true value. I want to get things done that glorify God. As a result, I will live a rich life of joy and satisfaction. At the same time, God will be pleased with His investment!

Major Update to TheSnoopyPenguin.org

2006-10-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since we made a major update to our webpage. A couple of weeks ago, I decided that it was time to get down to business and update the page. What you will now see is a CSS based page that rocks! It looks great and will grow quickly. The pages fit well together and provide an excellent framework for what is to come: TheSnoopyPenguin.org

CVE

2006-10-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

I just posted an article on our main page about becoming a Certified Videoconferencing Engineer. Since it is technology related material, I have crossposted to the technology section of our blog. Exciting stuff happening!!

Certified Videoconferencing Engineer

2006-10-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

Well, after a couple of years of waiting, I am finally a Certified Videoconferencing Engineer (CVE)!!! The additional letters on my name will be nice, but the knowledge gained from this experience is even better. I have learned a ton about video, audio, networking and standards. Sure, the experience I have gained from day-to-day work has been great, but the cohesive bonding of the CVE course and exam has helped solidify what I have learned. It is great to see how this certification has and will directly affect my job as an infrastructure engineer! On top of that, I look forward to what the Lord has in store. I really want to use this for the Lord and we are very eager to see what lies ahead!

Goodbye Newsgator... Hello Google Reader!

2006-09-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

I think that the time has come...

I have been an avid user of the Newgator online RSS reader for quite some time now (Maybe as long as a year). It has been my one stop shop for all of the latest on the internet. In fact, I use it so much that I have it burned in my brain to visit http://mail.yahoo.com and then http://www.newsgator.com... I almost type the two addresses as one.

When Google first came out with Google reader, I did not really like it (And I love Google). Yesterday, Google gave me what I wanted and updated the google reader. It now has the features that I have longed for. The main feature that I wanted was the ability to mark an item as read (As if it were email)... After playing around with the reader today, I believe that I may be switching from Newsgator to Google Reader. I will keep both running for a while and see which one I like the best. First impression- Google rocks!

Silicon Valley, California

2006-09-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

Tiffany and I are settling back into real life this week after a visit to San Jose, California last week.

Our adventures began on Saturday, September 16 with separate flights to San Jose. My flights were all messed up going to California, so our luggage also got messed up... I think it finally arrived Sunday afternoon (Note to self: Never fly through Chicago again... Oh, never fly United either).

When we arrived in California, our "son" met us. Mark is a long time friend from college and he flew himself up from the LA area to spend Sunday with us. We call him our son because he practically lived with us for a year during college.. Good times!

Sunday morning, we took a trip on the Roaring Camp Railroad! We rode an old Shay Steam Locamotive up into a mountain filled with giant redwood trees. We will post pictures on Flickr shortly. After riding the railroad, we drove up the coast to San Francisco! We drove down the famous Lombard street, walked around the touristy places and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge... Again, I will post pictures soon.

Monday morning put a stop to the tourism as I began my week long intensive study of Polycom Certified Video Engineer training... The course is very intense but wonderful. While I was in training, Tiffany spent time in and around San Jose. She had a great time and did not want to leave.

Since we were in Silicon Valley, we made sure to visit a few of my favorite places: Google, Yahoo, Intel, Apple, etc... Those pictures will also be posted soon!

Friday evening, before getting a couple hours of sleep and flying home, we drove to San Luis Obispo to see my step brother and his wife (JT and Demetria). We had a great time with them and caught up on a few years worth of information (Yeah, time travels WAY too fast around here).

Once again, our luggage was lost on the way back from California, but it arrived shortly before I had to pick Tiff up from the airport.

Now we get to settle back into life and the rush. Hopefully, I will be able to take my cerification test soon and add "CVE" to my list of accomplishments. I am very excited about this certification as it is very comprehensive in the video conferencing world. It also comes at a good time and coincides with my recent promotion.

Well, time to get back to the grind stone!

Promotion

2006-09-11T14:11:00.000-07:00

I received a pleasant surprise at work on Friday, September 8th. A few posts back, I mentioned how busy we have been. Well, it has paid off at work. I was promoted to the position of Infrastructure Engineer/Project Coordinator!!

I am very excited about this new position as it gives me an opportunity to continue learning and developing skills. At the same time, I am in a position that places me on the cutting edge of video conferencing and audio/visual. I am not sure what my full responsibilities will be at this point, but I do know it will be fun! This is the height of geekdom for me!

I cannot help but praise the Lord for how he has been working in our lives. He is teaching us so much lately and opening doors that we would have never imagined. This new position will give me skills and experience that I hope we can use for the Lord.

I look forward to the new challenges that are ahead!

The Walk- Matthew 7:13-20

2006-09-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite Steven Curtis Chapman songs is "The Walk." As I was reading through Matthew 7:13-20 today, this song came to mind. Our walk with the Lord and our walk in life is why we are here. How we choose to walk through this life shows what we truly believe and what our goals are. On top of that, how we choose to walk through this life will also determine how our lives turn out. That may seem like an obvious statement, but we tend to live like our decisions do not have outcomes and consequences.

If we are walking on the narrow path, our goal will be to glorify God. That narrow path will be hard at times and we will be tempted to take the easy road, but the results of taking the narrow path are wonderful. The deepest and most rewarding pleasure in life is serving God and glorifying God. That should be our number one goal at all times.

This truth really hit home when Tiffany and I went to Bali, Indonesia in 2005. While in Bali, we studied "The Blazing Center" by John Piper. The material was more than we could take in during one week. Since that trip, the Lord has really impressed these truths in my mind and it has helped me know how to focus.

The Walk (Steven Curtis Chapman)
I've got a Grandpa Rudd
He gave thirty years to the lumber yard
Loving his family and working hard
Got a faith like a solid rock
He's just doing the walk
I've got a friend named Larry
He sends me letters from a foreign land
He moved there with his kids and his pretty wife Mary
To answer a holy call
He's just doing the walk

You can run with the big dogs
You can fly with the eagles
You can jump through all the hoops
And climb the ladder to the top
But when it all comes down
You know it all comes down to the walk

There's a man I know
He said He'd come to show us the way
He died on a cross and He rose from the grave
And proved He was more than talk
He taught us the walk
And now I'm singing my songs
Standing up on a big, bright stage
And I do my dance while the music plays
But when the music stops
Am I doing the walk

You can run with the big dogs
You can fly with the eagles
You can jump through all the hoops
And climb the ladder to the top
But when it all comes down
You know it all comes down to this

Do justly, love mercy
Walk humbly with your God

'Cause you can run with the big dogs
You can fly with the eagles
You can jump through all the hoops
And climb the ladder to the top
But when it all comes down
You know it all comes down, down, down, down, down
To the walk

Anniversary Trip to Toronto

2006-08-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

We have just arrived back from our vacation to Toronto, Ontario in Canada. Tiffany and I had a great time celebrating our 5th anniversary and relaxing in Toronto. We visited the CN Tower, Casa Loma, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Ontario Science Centre, Paramount Canada's Wonderland, Toronto Island, Niagara Falls and more. We have posted pictures on Flickr from the trip.

Tangier Update

2006-08-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

The DDXG had a great time on Tangier Island. We worked all 24 hours of the IOTA Contest this year and fun was had by all. I should be getting some pictures up on flickr soon, including the lightning bolt that I was able to capture with my camera!

IOTA NA-083

2006-07-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

After 4 weeks of hard work in Northern Virginia, I am beat... But, I am very excited about this weekend. Tiffany and I will be traveling with the Dominion DX Group to Tangier Island this weekend to participate in the IOTA contest. Many of the DDXG members will be present for the 24 hour competition.

I am particularly excited because this will be my first "real" DXpedition. I have participated in contests before, but not at the level we will be competing at. We will have one run station and one mult station. I plan to spend time working each station.

One of the radio's we will be using is my personal TS-2000.

It should be a great weekend!

Busy Busy Busy

2006-06-28T04:58:00.000-07:00

Work has been incredibly bust for us this month.

Tiffany has been driving for her dad everyday for the past few weeks. She get's up at 4:30 am everyday and it is really starting to wear her down. We look forward to the weekends to get some rest.

My work has been crazy as of late too. I work in video conferencing and have been receiving a crash course education in project management as of late. Don't get me wrong, I love the free education and I love what I am doing, but it sure drains after multiple high stress days! I am very glad that I was able to stumble into the video conferencing world. It has really given me an opportunity to work on skills that we hope to use on the mission field someday. I have also enjoyed learning how the corporate giant works. I am a very tiny part of a massive IT organization, but I enjoy where I am because I get to work with other groups that I have an interest in. I have been able to learn more about networking, servers and pc's as a result of video conferencing while learning about a highly speacalized field at the same time.

We don't know where God is leading all the time. What we do know is that we are right where He wants us to be now. We look forward to the next step He has for us and strive to work hard today!

Our greatest desire is the glorify God! God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him (John Piper)!

Rotation!

2006-06-28T04:51:00.000-07:00

We have had a LOT of rain in Central Virgina this week. Storm after storm after storm... Last night, while Tiffany and I were eating dinner, the wind picked up and it was mildly strong. I decided to open a few more blinds in our dining room so we could see more outside. While opening one of the blinds, I noticed a particularly low cloud. As it passed in front of our house (Maybe a hundred yards or so), I noticed that it had rotation! I watched it for a few more seconds then ran to grab my cell phone. Although it did not touch down and turn into a tornado, we saw a definate funnel cloud!! I called the National Weather Service in Wakefield to report what I saw. Although there were no warnings or watches, he confirmed that particular cell looked a little odd to them.

There wasn't any damage, but it was amazing to see. The terrible part of the whole ordeal is that I forgot to grab my camera to take a picture... Oh well...

500 Ghz Processor for Your 111 Megapixel Camera!

2006-06-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

Two news stories have hit the web this week that I have to blog about.

First, we have been introduced to the 111 Megapixel camera from DALSA. Albeit, there are larger options available... This is just phenominal! Just a few years ago, I would have stuck my nose up to digital. It just was not ready for the world. Today, I have a digital camera with me all the time (My cell phone right now). We have taken over 17,000 pictures over the past two years as a result of digital technology. Sites like Flickr have made it possible for amateur photographers to thrust themselves into the public eye.

Second, we have been introduced to the overclocked 500 Ghz processor. Come again? That's right. Today, I am using a 1.73 Ghz computer, but tomorrow I could be using a computer that is over 250 times FASTER....

Granted, both of these stories speak of technology that is still unobtainable by the general public, but it still neat to see innovation like this. Now, we just need to boost the RAM, build bigger hard drives and get that bus speed up!

Weekend Update: Radio, Radio and Busch Gardens

2006-06-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

Wow! Tiffany and I just finished a very busy, but fun weekend.

Friday night, we had Charles come over to spend time with me on the radio. Charles is interested in radio and I really wanted to spend time showing him as much as possible.

Hope, Pacey and mom also came over for dinner.

Saturday morning, we went to a radio event with the DDXG. A more detailed report can be found on my radio blog.

Saturday evening, Matt and Julie came over with Evelyn. Terah, Blaine and Hope also came over to see the baby and eat pizza.

Sunday morning, we went with Peter and Sara to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Sara had $15 tickets from work. After arriving, we quickly converted those tickets into Silver Passports. It acutally wound up costing us less than a days ticket to buy a season passport! Thanks Sara! We look forward to many trips this summer. BG is so much fun and a great way to relax. It's only an hour from home, so it makes for the perfect day trip.

Links: TheSnoopyPenguin on Radio: DDXG Radio Event (Young Eagles)

DDXG Radio Event (Young Eagles)

2006-06-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

I am a proud member of the Dominion DX Group in Richmond, VA. This weekend, we organized a special event station at the New Kent County Airport near Richmond.

The EAA put on a Young Eagles event at the airport. They had over 80 kids come to the airport to get a free flight and an introduction to aviation. The weather was perfect for such an event.

The DDXG also had a special event station setup for the event. I had the privelege of talking to kids about radio. I began by sharing some purposes of amateur radio including the emergency aspect of radio. I then showed them APRS so they could "see" the benefits of radio.

We also had an HF station setup in which the kids could see us talking to other radio operators in the US and Canada. Many of them seemed fairly interested in what we were doing.

I think that events like this are very good for kids today. It is a great way to expose them to something other than video games and TV. Too many kids do not have active minds today and it is a shame. Radio and aviation are both very challenging to the mind, but there are countless stories of children succeeding at both!

I enjoy sharing my hobbies with other people, especially kids! I wish that I had been introduced to radio and aviation at an earlier age than I was. Both have been fun for me and have definetly played a role in my life!

More Software Defined Radio...

2006-06-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hmm... Looks like we may be on the bleeding edge here. I have found another article about Software Defined Radio (SDR). I have not taken too close a look at this page yet, but it looks very interesting. I think it is neat to see how technology grows and changes. More importantly though, it is great to see amateur radio operators at the forefront of these changes.

Amateur radio operators are putting time and energy into a HOBBY that is changing the world and electronics and software and computers and... I personally love amateur radio for this very reason. I learn so much from radio and it pays off in life!

Vista ISO

2006-06-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

I finally fought my way through the line and have downloaded Microsoft Vista! The massive 3.5 Gig .iso file is setting on my desktop at home. Now I need to burn it to a disk and find a computer to install it on!

Never Get Lost Again!

2006-06-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

I love Google and I love Google Maps! Both have served as invaluable tools many times.

At the same time, my cell phone has also become a great tool. Since Tiffany and I have PCS Vision on our phones (Samsung A740), we are able to "surf the internet" at blazingly slow speeds... It's great being able to jump over to google and do a search while away from my computer. Now, Google has introduced an application that lets you view Google Maps from the cell phone! Now I can lookup directions, satellite views, etc. from my cell phone (As long as I have a signal and enough battery).

Keep it coming Google!!

Vista! Vista! Vista!

2006-06-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

The beta of Windows Vista is now available to the public!

Unfortunately, the Microsoft servers are dying as a result... The ISO image is a massive 3.5 Gig! I already have my key code for the software, but I am going to wait a few days until the hype dies down.

Looks like you have to have a pretty good computer for it (So I have no idea which one I will load it on...), but that's ok. When XP came out, it was a resource hog too, but now it is part of daily life. Someday, we will look back and say, "Wow, I remember when Vista was still called Longhorn, now it is a dinosaur!"

Eagly awaiting my turn in line...

The Future of Radio... Today!

2006-06-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

Engadget has posted a very interesting article today about software defined radio! The long term implications of this technology are limitless. Imagine having a laptop with a built in HF radio. All you would need is an antenna, coax and your laptadio!

Engadget Article via Wired News
Buy one for Jim!

Outlook 2007 Calendar

2006-06-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

At work, we often have a lot of meetings simultaneously scheduled on our team calendar. The other day, we discovered that Office XP can only have 6 simultaneous meetings scheduled for any given time of the day. After 6, they drop off the screen!!

When I got home from work that day, I discovered that Office 2003 had a limit of 10 simultaneous meetings.

Now that I have installed Office 2007 Beta, I have yet to find a limit! I scheduled 25 meetings at one point, but ran out of time and patiences...

Bottom line, it looks like Microsoft really does listen to its users. If you do a search on the internet, you will find many people complain about the limit in XP and 2003... So, let's see where the limit is in 2007!

Unwritten

2006-06-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Here I am at the start of blogging. I have tested a number of blogs and beat around the bush long enough. Today, I am going to begin blogging various thoughts that I have. I have broken the blog down into a number of smaller blogs that all link to each other. When I think about blogging, the song "Unwritten" comes to mind. Natasha Bedingfield captures the thoughts fairly well, so I feel compelled to begin with this:

I am unwritten,
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your INHIBITIONS

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh, oh

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
Are outside the lines
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes
But I can't live that way

oh, oh

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
(x2)

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inner visions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
drench yourself in words unspoken
Live you life with arms wide open
Today is where you book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
the rest is still unwritten
(she chuckle's)

Now That's a Bright Torch!

2006-05-31T07:34:00.000-07:00

Now That's a Bright Torch!
Originally uploaded by I Na Aina E.

One of our most popular pictures on Flickr right now. As we were walking away from the statue, this idea popped into my head.