Chris' Thoughts

My Favorite Picture of Deb

2009-07-02T07:37:00.000-04:00

So tomorrow is her 40th Birthday. Having thousands of pictures of her, from birth until two weeks ago (when she left for CT for her annual visit), this is my favorite.

I can't explain why, but I've had it in my briefcase since it was taken. Again there is some question on when it was taken, but it is great one of her!

Please call her, email, Facebook etc. to wish her a happy birthday!

Favorite Picture of Deb #2

2009-07-01T07:17:00.001-04:00

My second most favorite picture of Deb!

I think this was in my apartment in college, she thinks it was at a neighbor's New Year's party a few years later. Either way, great picture!

Don't worry I fixed it

2009-06-30T07:26:00.002-04:00

Interrupting my favorite pictures of my almost 40 year old wife ;-)

I found a really funny site of hacks, ghetto or redneck repairs. Now I've done my fair share of things to get something moving along or stopping a leak, but only long enough to fix it.

The site is here.

An example:

Favorite Picture of Deb #3

2009-06-30T07:23:00.001-04:00

Two more to go! Remember, her birthday is July 3rd.

This was what she wore to dinner on our first anniversary.

Favorite Picture of Deb #4

2009-06-26T13:23:00.002-04:00

This was taken as part of the engagement package we did.

Here are #7, #6, #5

Favorite Pictures of Deb #5

2009-06-26T13:21:00.003-04:00

My Favorites of Deb, #5.

This is the first picture of us taken together in Greece. Yes we look really young don't we?

Pictures #6 and #7.

My Favorite Pictures of Deb #6

2009-06-26T13:20:00.002-04:00

Continuing with my #6 favorite of Deb.

This was in September of 1989. No idea where she was going.

#7 is here.

My Favorites Pictures of Deb - #7

2009-06-26T13:17:00.003-04:00

Deb's 40th Birthday is July 3rd. When preparing for her surprise party I (with the help of her Mom) got several hundred pictures of her, from all ages, and put together a slide show.

With 7 days until her birthday, I figured I'd share my favorites.

So, here is #7

This was taken a couple of days after we met in Greece

If you want to see about 120 of the pictures from the slide show, go here.

Did I mention I don't like to paint?

2009-05-31T19:33:00.002-04:00

One of my tasks for this weekend was to paint the windows downstairs in the front and the front door . I'm smart enough to know that I don't want to do the whole house in one weekend, so I started in the front.

Did I mention I don't like to paint? Of course I picked the warmed/sunniest weekend we've had all spring. Friday night I washed down everything then Saturday primered the really bad spots. I was going to paint that afternoon, but it was way too hot.

Sunday morning Meghan helped me tape off everything that wasn't already taped due to the primer, then we started painting. She helped with the windows around the front door then decided she'd had enough. I guess watching DIY and TLC is one thing, doing it is another ;-)

It took me almost 3 hours to paint everything, then another hour to cleanup this evening after it cooled down a little bit.

So if you're a redneck if only your neck/shoulders are sunburned. What if only your back half is red? The sun was behind me the whole day so I have an interesting tan now!

Coke Classic Tournament May 8 and 9

2009-05-09T17:20:00.002-04:00

Courtney's softball team was undefeated in regular play at their park so they won a trip to the Coke Classic softball tournament at Lost Mountain.

Their first game was earlier in the week, but I was at my company's User Conference so I couldn't attend. They won that one but it was a close game.

Friday night's game shaped up to be a big game because the team we were playing was also undefeated in their own park. Well, our girls stepped up and our defense shut them down.

Saturday was a long day. One of the longest in a couple of years. We arrived at the field at 9 am and didn't leave until 3:45. The girls played two great games, getting better and better with each inning. We 'won' the winners bracket so on Thursday we meet the winner of the 'losers' bracket for the championship!

Our regular pitcher and I have a bit of a game/contest going. If she doesn't walk the first batter she faces, I get her some chocolate. She's a Reese's peanut butter cup girl but won't turn away from regular chocolate. So the second half of the season if she didn't walk, I'd have chocolate waiting at the end of the inning. Friday, I went and got a bag of Hershey's miniatures so any girl that did well got one.

Of course, on Saturday I needed to do the same thing, so I got a bigger bag. Needless to say, with 10 and 11 year old girls that went over well.

For Friday's game the coaches told the girls they could 'paint' the hair of the coaches if we won. While I'm technically not a coach, apparently more than one girl wanted me to have pink hair. Thus the picture:

On Saturday we gave the girls two incentives: win the first and paint Coach Ray's fingernails hot pink. Win the second and they could throw whipped cream pies at the coaches. Well, we won both. First picture is Ray's pink nails.

However, you know the expression 'old age and trickery will overcome youth and exuberance'? Well, we got the girls back. We had them line up and 'take a picture'. But the coaches were behind the girls and on '3' shoved the plates into THEIR faces. Lots of fun!

Turn your back on a 3 year old for 1 minute

2009-05-01T20:37:00.002-04:00

I guess I need to get something else for breakfast.

He took the plastic bag with the muffins that Meghan made and very quietly opened it and took a bite out of almost all of them.

It took a few minutes to clean up him and the floor.

New (?) Car, new Blog

2009-04-25T21:59:00.001-04:00

I just created a new blog to document the rebuilding of a rare, 1984 Mercury Capri RS Turbo I just bought. See it here.

Now Courtney has a blog!

2009-04-13T20:20:00.001-04:00

She bugged me all day yesterday and when I got home for dinner. So, introducing: Courtney's Blog!

I guess he didn't want me to clean up

2009-03-29T12:44:00.002-04:00

After I cleaned up the many messes that Christopher makes in the family room each hour, he decided that he really wanted to play with all the trains.

After:

More pictures in the flickr site.

Courtney Got a Homerun Yeah! Courtney Got a Homerun Yeah!

2009-03-21T18:36:00.003-04:00

Today was the first game of the season and Courtney got off to a good start. First a bat she smashed a hit over the right-center fielder's head for a two run home run. She also started running like the lunatic she used to be. She was running so fast she caught up with the girl who was on first as they were rounding third!

(The title is the chant that the girls do when someone gets a hit.)

Second at bat she walked, but third at bat got another good, solid hit.

Her team won 21-3. It wasn't as much of a blow out as that sounds. The other team gave up 3 home runs to the same girl, but they were hitting as well. Our defense held them though.

We also went to touch-a-truck in Kennesaw. I'll post up pictures tomorrow.

Yes I as Dugout Dude again. I still have a voice though.

I remember now why I don't have ATVs

2009-03-19T21:38:00.002-04:00

I am my boss' lake house for a product brainstorming meeting and he has a couple of motorcycles and ATVs. I've been riding a 4 wheeler all day (yes we did some work!).

This evening after dinner I took a 4 wheeler into the woods, but missed the turn to get back on the road. So I went off the side of the woods, over a 2+ foot rut and dumped the ATV. I didn't go over the handlebars at least. No major damage to the ATV or me, but I remember now why I don't have toys like this.

Psst, want a bowl your kid can't dump out?

2009-03-15T16:30:00.002-04:00

This is from One Step Ahead, which makes pretty good stuff for the little ones.

Looks like it has a gyroscope in it to keep them from tipping it over.

Very good marketing team behind this ad. The kid is in the car, probably with a ton of Cheerio's and Goldfish. If he was Christoper they'd be all over the place by now.

We have that car seat too. If you do and you haven't had to take the cover off yet, be glad. I had to READ THE DIRECTIONS to get the cover off. Seriously, it is a car seat, I shouldn't need directions to take it apart!

More reasons not to leave your computer or phone logged in and unattended

2009-03-08T20:56:00.003-04:00

If you've been around Facebook or Twitter for even a little amount of time you've seen people with very strange status updates. Some silly, some really off color. Ever wondered what happened? More likely than not, the owner of that account left their cell phone or computer logged into those applications and not secured.

So some wise-ass friend decided to point this out by updating their status. Sometimes they are funny, but I don't know about you, but I think every one has that one friend who takes it too far. So, it isn't surprising to see that a meme is quickly building around this, call the Pants Status Meme.

The general idea is when you find an open account, don't be a jerk, but do try to be funny and preface it with 'pants meme' so people know it wasn't the owner posting. Some ideas:

Pants Status: <>
- plaid
- wrinkled
- on the floor
- not wearing any
- gone clamming (for those who don't know this one, think highwaters ;-)

To see what others are doing see this.

Also, remember if it happens to you just go to your profile or home page and delete the offending statements. Don't try to apologize.

Update on Molly: They have her!

2009-02-23T08:17:00.002-05:00

We just received word that John and Katharine picked her up today. Katharine has a good write up on the first hours on their blog.

Friday the 13th is even more unique this time!

2009-02-11T19:52:00.003-05:00

Think the world is going to end in 2012?

Well what about this:

"At 11:31:30pm UTC on Feb 13, 2009, Unix time will reach 1,234,567,890.
Where will you be at this momentous second?" - from Bell Labs

While not as big a deal as Y2K, this could be a significant event. Or not. If you don't know what 'UNIX Time' is, be very concerned. ;-)

I know I spent Y2K with a pager waiting for the world to end, so I'll have a beer or three tomorrow night to make up for it.

Sorry, just geeking out.

Source.

British Humor

2009-02-09T19:16:00.003-05:00

I love the show. Now I can get some clothes! Too bad the US version was killed before it took off.

How 70's Science Fiction influenced my interests today

2009-02-08T17:52:00.002-05:00

How many can you name?

Voltron!

Unfortunately I didn't get into Dr. Who until a few years ago, but I know most of the others. I had a Space 1999 ship. I remember begging my parents for one for Christmas.

I also remember watching UFO with my Dad. Ah mini-skirts and purple hair

If you want to try to figure them out, see here and here.

Haha - Patriot's Fans can ignore

2009-02-03T19:24:00.000-05:00

Still funny a year later

Dad & Daughter Dance

2009-01-25T07:48:00.002-05:00

Last night Courtney and I went to the Girl Scout Dad and Daughter dance. The theme was 50's to 80's and everyone was encouraged to dress up.

Being a child of the 80's I knew the style I wanted, I just didn't have the clothes! I couldn't find any suit jackets that were white or pink. Nor could I find my old boat shoes (must have left them at a fight?).

So I settled for a pink izod shirt, over a white izod shirt, black chino's and shoes. Unfortunately I don't have white high tops any more. I also couldn't find my skinny black tie. I'm sure Deb has hidden all of these things.

Courtney had a very nice dress that would have fit into the 80s. Except she wouldn't let Deb 'poof' her hair. She did look very cute.

We first went to dinner at Chili's then to the dance. She and I danced to a lot of songs including some from the 50's 60's and 70's. (They didn't do a lot of 80's music.) We also did the Chicken Dance and the 'stomp' thing they do in school (The one where you 'slide to the right')

Most of the girls were dressed up and a bunch of the Dads. One was Steve Perry, there were lots of hippies, a couple of skinny tie'd and lots of 50's greasers.

I don't know which was funnier: Courtney's look during 'play that funky music white boy' or 'Shout' (Animal House) where we were on the floor.

After the dance she was of course hungry, so we had to get desert. On the way I was clicking through the radio stations and Aqualung by Jethro Tull came on. I started singing and, in an attitude only an 11 year old can pull off, she said 'Um okay Dad. Are we there yet?'

Misguided 'environmental' idea and the next round of stimulus welfare

2009-01-18T11:49:00.002-05:00

Our friends in Congress are again trying to use the economy problems that they created to push their environmentalist agenda. While I support helping the environment, dumping my tax dollars into a poorly thought out, ripe for fraud plan is unacceptable.

I'm talking about the 'cash for clunkers' plan that the Senate Democrats are trying to stick into the next round of welfare, I mean stimulus plan.

Basically, if you turn in a junker car, which doesn't necessarily have to be running, Congress will give you thousands towards a new car. California tried this in the 90s and it failed, so why does Congress think it will work now?

If you agree that there are better ways of stimulating the economy, without the fraud found when California tried this, please write your Senator and Speaker Pelosi.

From SEMA, some points on what to say in your message.

Dear Speaker Pelosi

I am writing to urge lawmakers not to include a "Cash for Clunkers" provision in the economic stimulus bill. Owners who turn in vehicles for crushing would receive a "minimal" payment to purchase a new car. This is a misguided attempt to spur car sales and claim that the country's air quality or fleet fuel mileage is being improved.

* "Cash for Clunkers" programs threaten enthusiasts nationwide with the loss of valuable parts and parts-cars for repair, restoration, and customization projects. The programs also risk destroying classic, historic and special-interest vehicles, our American heritage.

* Cars turned in for scrappage often barely run, or are rarely-driven second or third vehicles that have a minimal impact on overall fuel economy or emissions.

* "Cash for Clunkers" programs will reduce the availability of affordable transportation and repair parts used by low-income drivers. It will also compete with the Salvation Army, the Purple Heart and other charities that rely on vehicle donations to raise money.

* "Cash for Clunkers" ignores better policy options. If Congress wants to act, support for repair and upgrade is a better choice and a win-win for consumers, dealers, manufacturers and repair shops. Significant emissions and fuel economy improvements can be achieved in older vehicles through relatively simple and inexpensive means: repaired/replaced exhaust systems, tune-ups, etc.

* I hope I can count on you to reject "Cash for Clunkers." Thank you for your consideration on this very important matter.