IDrive - Protect your Digital Life, Sync and Share

Cross Platform Supports unlimited PC, Mac; access from iOS / Android devices   Share Share files with friends and associates   Data up-to-date Backs-up and syncs your data in real-time   Versioning Retain and restore last 30 versions of your files   Search and Restore Retrieve data from any location via web, desktop or mobile devices   Security Data transferred and stored using military grade encryption     In case you do not wish to receive email updates on the IDrive Service, click here.   © Pro Softnet Corporation.

Long time no see

It has been exactly 2 years and 2 days since I posted last. Not much has happened. I still work at the same job. Still have the same kids. Still live in the same house. Still go to the same church. Still have the same wife... you get the point.

Just thought I would check in and say hi. Hi

Fixing The Water Leak

My yard!  My beautiful yard!!

Two years ago they were digging up my yard for a gas leak, now it's a water leak.  Next time it better be because I struck gold.

...and up from the ground came a bubblin' crude...

Heavy Machinary & Little Kids

Yes, I know it has been a long time since I posted anything.  There has been a lot going on and I haven't had time to keep up with blogging much.  One major development in our lives is that Jenny has decided to begin a daycare.  Her website is here (shameless search engine plug)Daycare in wichita kansas, home childcare (end shamless search engine plug).

Because she has decided to be a licensed daycare located in Wichita Kansas, instead of just registered we have had to make some changes around the house in order to pass the inspection.  Nothing major really, put up some plexiglass around the railing on the stairs, install a gate at the top of the stairs... and build a frame around the playset in the backyard and move 11 tons of pea gravel into it!  Thankfully I didn't have to do it with a shovel and wheelbarrow!

Driving this for four hours was even more fun then it looks.  No really I am not being sarcastic.

Jacobs Piano Recital

This was Jacob's 2nd recital.  You can see how much he improved from last May here.  Now he is doing both the treble and bass clef, and the notes are not labled on the sheet music.

Bush Shoe Incident

Who throws a shoe? Honestly?

Happy Halloween

There is one thing that I really love about Halloween and it is the sense of community that you get walking through your neighborhood in the evening and stopping at all of your neighbors houses.  The rest of it I don't really care for... We always get home way too late, and with way too much sugar.  Overall we had a great time though.  This year we went with 2 other neighbor boys (Jacobs best friend who he also sits next to in class), his little brother who just happens to be 4, the same as Ethan and their dad.

Darth Vaders holding Superman captive for a picture.  Yes, they both wanted to be Darth Vader and they were both okay with the other one wanting to be the same thing.

Here they are at the neighbors house right before we head out together.

Super Sammie :-)

Conversation Piece

What do you think when you see this?

Thank you NBC

Last night we watched Heroes online because our DVR is not cooperating.  They have a few short commercials throughout it.  Here is what they consisted of:

1. Little girl neatly packing up the contents of her dollhouse.  Mother comes in and says "come on Anna it is time to go".  Camera pans back to see the room full of packed up boxes.  Deep voiced man explains how "When you go through a foreclosure it doesn't just affect you".

2. Different little girl laying on her bed with images of pollution, deforestation and toxic waste being projected across her and the room.  The girl sternly says "You promised me the world... Is this what you had in mind?"

3.  Three young adolescent boys sitting around an old station wagon, with several other old cars parked next to it.  The film quality is reminiscent of the early 80's.  They are obviously bored, sitting in different positions, one on the ground one reclined on the hood and the other leaning on the wagon.  They are completely disengaged with each other and fidgety.  After 10 seconds of only hearing the basketball that one of them is apathetically bouncing, another man with a deep voice says "The community almost built them a community center... but almost is as close as they got".  Then more quiet idleness and slow basketball dribbling.

So I just wanted to thank NBC for wiping that silly naive smile-of-life off my face and putting me in my place by reminding me that we live in a world where little girls are evicted from their dollhouses, we are destroying the planet for our children, and our teenagers are teetering on the brink of violent crime due to boredom and not building them a community center is sure to push them over the edge.

I thought I was just going to get an hour of fun entertainment, but instead I got a fresh outlook on life.

Introducing Peter...

Okay, so maybe I am almost a month late, but he sure is cute... err, I mean, he looks like he is going to be a football player or maybe a firefighter.

That's Going To Hurt In The Morning

Poor guy "fell"* off a neighbors trampoline and landed face first on the patio. He spent a few hours laying pathetically on the couch, took a short nap, then got up, ate chips and salsa and ran downstairs to play video games with Jacob. The bump is actually a lot worse than you can see in that picture. He is attempting, unsuccessfully, to pull his hair back for the picture.

*I say "fell", but actually he was pushed by someone whose name will go unmentioned.

Completely Lost

We finally finished the 4th and most recent season of Lost.  We started Netflixing the first 3 seasons last spring, but the fourth season we watched online because it isn't out on DVD yet.  We were able to watch it in HD online which was very impressive.   No lag time and short 30 second commercial breaks. 

So for all of you who have so rudely talked about Lost in front of me and I have shushed you, or held my hands over my ears while loudly singing "LA LA LA", you may now speak freely in front of me or better yet to me about Lost and I will gladly listen.

For those of you who haven't watched it, I highly recommend seeing Lost, it is one of the best TV series of all time.  I fought watching it for a long time because I thought it would be like the X-Files and just break my heart with a major let down by ending with some guy sitting in a cave smoking a cigarette and saying that the world was going to end in 2012.   I was worried until lobiwan informed me that the producers specifically said it was not going to end in disappointment like the X-Files and that they have had the story line mapped out from the beginning.

Thank you lobiwan I will never doubt you again.  I just can't believe that we have to wait until "early 2009" for the 5th season to begin.

Bad Day Addendum

Before reading furthure please be sure to read the post "A Really Really Really Bad Day or One Good Thing is...." first, as this is an addendum to that.  

This afternoon things were going better.  I started to get hungry and we didn't have anything to eat so I went to Quiznos and got a sandwich with soup to go.  As I pulled out of the parking lot it sounded like my back passenger tire was flat.  So I pulled over as soon as I could and parked in front of this nail salon.  Sure enough it was completely blown out.  No problem though I have a spare and everything I need to change it.  I tried calling Jenny and noticed that my cell phone was was almost out of batteries, strange I just charged it.  She didn't answer.  Oh well I figured I would have it changed in 10 minutes and be home in 15 anyway.  

I took everything I needed out of the trunk, yes it was all there.  I opened the side door so I could listen to NPR news while I took care of business.  After placing the jack I removed all of the lug nuts, then I jacked up the car.   A news story was on about ball jointed dolls.  Aparrently they are all the craze now in Japan and gaining interest in the US.  So I gave the wheel a good yank to pull it off and it didn't budge, no matter what I tried I could not get the wheel to move at all.  I wiggled it, I kicked it, I spun it, I cursed at it.  Nothing worked.  I tried calling Jenny again, still no answer.  I double checked the wheel to make sure I wasn't missing anything, no everything looked right, it should slip right off.  These women spend thousands of dollars on these silly dolls that I guess look like real people, sounds like the setup for a B horror movie to me.

Oh I forgot to mention that this entire time I am working on this, two women where sitting 10 feet away from me in front of the nail salon talking about me in Vietnamese and laughing.  I am sure it was a great time for them.

I still hadn't eaten my food, so I sat on the parking lot curb and ate my sandwich with my fingers black with grease and dirt.  With what I am sure is the last bit of juice in my phone battery I eek one more call to Jenny, still nothing.  So I called my Dad and it went something like this:

Dad: Hello.

Me: Dad, real fast I am almost out of phone batteries.  I have a flat tire and I am parked next to Hollywood Video, try to get a hold of Jenny and let her know.  I haven't been able to get a hold of her.  I am trying to change the tire but I can't get it off.  I have taken off all the lug nuts and it won't move, I think it is rusted on.  Any ideas?

Dad: Well you haven't jacked the car up yet have you?  You have to do that before it will come off.

Me: Yes Dad (In my mind that was a given, but apparently he has little faith in my automotive knowledge), I of course I jacked the car up...

We then discussed how I should walk to a nearby automotive place and see if they can help.  Which is what I did.  A nice man at the Jiffy-Lube gave me a can of "ZAP", basically WD-40, with the nozzle broken off so I had to push the spray stem up against what I wanted to spray.  At this point it has been at least an hour since I left the house to get a quick sandwich and come straight home.  On my way back to the car Jenny called, I told her what was going on.  She felt adequatly sorry for not having heard my prior calls.  I asked her to bring my hammer and a good can of WD-40.  She said she was on her way.

Back at the car, one of the nail salonists (posibbly a made up word) started asking why I wasn't able to get it changed yet and I explained about it being rusted on, but not to worry because my wife was bringing me a hammer.  She went in and brought out a big heavy hammer, perfect for what I needed.  Did you know that a really nice pair of eyes for one of those dolls could set you back several hundred dollars.

I sprayed down the lug nuts as best I could with the broken spray can and started hamering away.  It still took a surprising amount of whacking, but it eventually came out and I was putting the spare on when Jenny arrived.  I finished everything up, we returned the can of "Zap" to the friendly people at Jiffy-Lube and went home.  I stopped at QT to get a Coke on the way back.  Jenny had asked me to get a pack of stamps while I was there.  They were out, but gave me my drink for free.... maybe the day was turning around.

Some people go as far to treat the dolls like their children.  One woman interviewed explained how she had a 17 year old girl with dark hair and an 8 year old boy with blonde hair...  What a stupid news story, I don't think I really like ball jointed dolls.