|
|
|
|
My Car Done Broke
|
For some reason my car wouldn't start after work today. The battery was good and the car would turn "on", but the engine wouldn't even try to turn over. I suppose a bad starter could be the culprit, but wouldn't it at least make a noise or something? I suspect that there is an electrical problem. Luckily Beck and I have AAA and they came out in about 20 minutes and towed me all the way back home from downtown P-town. Pretty sweet deal!
My good mood will surely be fouled by the mechanics fee tomorrow.
|
|
Girls Room Remodel
|
We finally got around to remodeling the girls room. Steve, Kelly, and Dad came up to help out too! We decided on the Disney Cinderella theme. We put down a new 12' x 9' rug, painted the walls with four colors (pink. 2 shades of blue, and white trim), installed new sliding closet doors, painted the dresser, and put up some Disney princess wall border on two walls. It came out awesome. Rebecca even made the curtains from fabric we picked up at Joanne's. We also moved Monie into this room so all the girls are now sharing the princess room. Needless to say the girls love it.
|
|
Jaywalk
|
I'm working on a major project for work that is suitably named "Project Jaywalk". I don't like discussing details about work on my blog, but let's just say that if I didn't shave my head, I'd be bald anyway. This project affects a lot of people and you learn a lot about how the most trivial things become mountains to move. It's frustrating, but nonetheless good experience. I've learned enough so far to handle things way, way differently the next time I'm doing something similar.
Lesson Learned #1 - Involved *less* people. Inaction by committee is a regular occurance and in the end, it just costs money to do nothing. I understand the general desire to solicit input and be communicative, but when everyone wants their own way and decisions don't get made it leads to a whole lot of nothing.
Lesson Learned #2 - Discover your decision makers and stake holders clearly up front. *Demand* their input and don't accept "I'm busy with other things" as an excuse for them to not pay attention. Otherwise, you're setup to fail.
Lesson Learned #3 - Understand and document deliverables clearly up front. Make sure that your stakeholders and business owners sign off on a written list of deliverables. If you don't have time to develop a complete list of deliverables, delay the project. Don't start on the wrong path from day one.
Lesson Learned #4 - Don't forget that keeping the lights on is critical too. Never underestimate the amount of resources you have and make sure your butt isn't hanging out in the wind. It's an age old saying, but it can't be said enough: C.Y.A.
|
|
Men of Action
|
I recently watched a video of a army basic training graduation speech by LTC Randolph C. White, Jr. The speech was impressive and very inspiring. He said many things that I agree with, but this takes the cake:For my money there are two kinds of men that walk the earth... men of action and all others. You can see the most excellent speech here.
|
|
TPK
|
Dork night turned out to be very interesting. Chibbs "The Killer DM" struck again; this time with force majeure. In a long battle with some evil cultists, our party was completely wiped out, one by one. Kyle's character lasted the longest, amazingly surviving for over 12 rounds after the rest of the party was eliminated. What is particularly sad is that Megan arrived at about 11pm after she got off work just in time to sit down and watch her character bite the dust. Our laments fell on deaf ears and the Killer DM continued his onslaught of doom.
We're all rolling up new characters and plan to thwart Chibby's next attempt and wiping us out.
|
|
Home School
|
This is old news, but I want to post it for posterity. Rebecca and I remodeled the great room downstairs that we were using as a classroom. We made the room completely dedicated for use as a classroom and playroom for the kids. We were very happy to paint over the urine colored walls with a nice blue color. The single light bulb ceiling fixture was replaced with a 4 tube flourescent fixture that makes the room almost glow with natural looking light. In fact, when you're upstairs looking down at the lit room, it makes you think the door is open and the sun is shining in.
We also mustered the courage to actually put down carpeting. Since the room as a sump drain in it, I wanted to use carpeting that wouldn't be ruined in case of a flood. It's indoor/outdoor carpeting that is glued to the floor. There is no padding so it will be easy to vacuum up and dry out if needed.
For color theme, we made use of a lot of primary colors and painted almost everything from the TV stand to the picture frames. The end result came out great, although I don't like the tables and chairs. As soon as something comes up on Craigs list I plan on buying some real school desks for the kids. I might even just buy new ones if I can't find any used ones. Alternately, I would be happy with some matching tables that fit the theme of the room. The brown folding tables just don't match. I also want plastic school type chairs.
All in all, the room is awesome and the kids love it.
|
|
Blast from the Past
|
Rachel emails me those stories that have life and moral lessons in them all the time. Today's was particularly interesting and I wrote her back about how it reminded me of my High School days a bit. When she wrote me back she asked if I got her e-mail about Corry, a close friend from our school days. I hadn't actually received it so she sent it again. Apparently, Corry wanted to contact me but was apprehensive about it.
Naturally, I contacted him and he wrote me back within an hour or so. He then said that he was indeed apprehensive and was wondering if he had done something to drive me away... strange! Corry and I used to be best buds in junior and sr high school. We were neighbors and did countless things together. We were always handing out at each other houses, blah, blah, blah. I guess as we got older and graduated high school we grew apart... but not because we didn't like each other. I moved, he moved, we both got married, etc. Anyhow, I actually visited his folks a few times hoping they would have updates on how he was doing. I never got his contact info and until tonight, we haven't spoken to each other in many years (at least 7). Anyhow, I wrote him back and hopefully I will call him sometime this weekend. I am very excited to be in touch with an old true friend... one of those guys that you just know is a friend for life... even if we haven't spoken in a while.
I hope he likes Joss Whedon... otherwise this friendship is over!
|
|
