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!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Avondale Brush Fire
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
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Inbox = Zero
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!
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!
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Dare 2 Share
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!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Weekend in Sedona!
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!
Friday, February 15, 2008
A Portrait of God's Love
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!
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!
Monday, February 11, 2008
40,000 Pictures and a Renaissance
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Little Wonders of Surprise!
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"
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
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Thanks for the Snow!
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.
Friday, January 11, 2008
BOA Cards
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... =)
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
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.
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.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Thank You to Bank of America!
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... =)
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... =)
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Christmas Memories
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...
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...
Friday, December 21, 2007
Windows Server 2008
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?!
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?!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Vegas Vacation
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).
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
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! =)
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! =)
Saturday, December 01, 2007
November Happenings
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!
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!!!
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!
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!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Orlando Vacation
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
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
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Hacking the MyBook World Edition II
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.
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.
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