Where Chester Lives

Because this one might be long...

Christmas

I hope everyone had a merry. We certainly did. I know that I said I didn't want anything, and that was true, but I did get this cool cookbook. I'm a huge fan of Jamie Oliver...he has a very loose and relaxed style with great ingredients. Suits me fine. I got Teresa a day planner (not exciting, I know), but she had an event to plan tucked inside of it...a trip to the spa. She liked it alot. Score points for me! grin The spa trip includes a 50 minute massage and a 50 minute facial. I've heard that girls like that kind of stuff...

We kept it smaller for the girls this year, just one big present to share. What? You want to know what that was? Well...it was a Wii! That's right...yours truly stood in line for 4+ hours in sub-freezing temperatures so that I could guarantee that it was under the tree. I coordinated the gift with the in-laws, which meant they paid for the extra controller and Super Mario Galaxy. The girls were very happy; they've been playing it ever since. I also picked up Elebits, which everyone hates except me. That game is addictive, and very Japanese in design and implementation. I recommend it highly. If you haven't played a Wii, it is a very cool thing. I've never been a big console gamer, but this is different. The controls are fun and extend the game playability. I am buying in to Nintendo's spiel here...it isn't about the graphic power, it's about the game play. And the games are fun. F-U-N.

The Sunday before Christmas we went back to Vallejo to visit them and to be part of their first annual shindig. There was food and fellowship, followed by entertainment. I led some singing during the pre-dinner devotional and Anne and I sang a couple of songs during the entertainment. By the end of the night, my voice was gone. I couldn't figure it out at first, but then I remembered that I had sang alot that morning as part of the worship team at Cordova's service. The highlight of the night for me was seeing some very good friends and reconnecting with all the people we served with for so long. Johnathan, Carrie, Jenna & David: It was really great seeing you all, and a very pleasant surprise. The only downer on the night was the fact that we all got sick from the food. Not full-blown food poisoning, but I spent significantly more time in the bathroom on Monday than is usual, or pleasant.

As far as the actual Christmas day went, we were very relaxed. I made a prime rib roast with smashed potatoes and gwavy. And veggies and rolls and salad. No elaborate desserts...we were all pretty full anyway. We just kind of laid around most of the day and enjoyed watching the girls bowl and play tennis and baseball (on the Wii). Later, we took the girls to see National Treasure, Book of Secrets. Teresa's parents stayed home and watched Fox News. The movie was pretty okay...bubblegum and popcorn. Don't go expecting enlightenment, and you'll be fine. It was better than Fox News by far.

It was a good Christmas. I recommend low-key every year...just stay home and be with your family. It's what they want, and what you want. If others want to share Christmas with you, they can come over and relax with everyone.

Computers

It seems that everyone I know breaks their computers at the same time. I've been busy building my home office lab (pictures soon). Jack was having serious computer issues...I spent all night Wednesday rebuilding his system, which I delivered on Thursday after I got off work. Teresa has been complaining about her wireless connection, so I went and purchased a better USB adapter, which didn't work. So I took that back this morning and got another one...which also didn't work. I believe, in both cases, her machine fried the adapter. I spent two hours on it last night and half the day on it today. Finally, I just got completely fed up and purchased her a laptop. She's been wanting one anyway, and this way she can do her Partylite stuff at the show instead of bringing it home. So, it's a business expense. Plus, I get a pretty good employee discount at Dell. I hated spending the money, but her machine is toast. I think it is because of the excessive amount of static in our house lately...I've been shocking myself everywhere I go. I've taken to touching something metal before I touch my computer so I don't fry my machine, too.

Also, Ben is having computer issues, which will require a rebuild. Like I said...these things seem to group themselves together.

Work

I'm getting better and better with the new firewalls. I got my management server set up this past week and was able to configure the HTTP proxy and setup some IPSec tunnels between my devices. However, the noise output from the larger unit was driving me UP THE WALL. So, today I built a plywood enclosure for my desktop rack and lined it with quilt batting to help deaden the sound. There is a gap in the back for the fans to exhaust the air...I'm hoping they stay cool enough. I think I'll drill a hole in the side big enough for a meat thermometer so I will know what the ambient temperature is inside of the box. If I need to adjust for airflow, I can. Installing a large (quiet) fan in the top is certainly feasible and easy to do. The sound isn't muffled completely, but it is certainly more liveable. I feel like I can work with it on now, and even take phone calls. We'll see how it goes.

I feel really good about where I am and how it is going. January is going to be a busy month, with some trips planned to the Bay Area, SoCal, and Seattle. I'm planning all that stuff out next week with my team. I'm excited.

Mom

Mom's health is not going to improve much, I don't think. She is over her infection, but she has another surgery coming up in a month or so to take care of plaque buildup in one of the arteries in her neck. She is going back to Louisville soon to consult about her diabetes. This is all getting expensive, and I don't see how she is going to be able to keep her house. I'm slowly preparing her for that talk...not looking forward to it at all. I wish I didn't have to deal with this stuff, but you take the bad with the good. Part of me feels guilty that the past few weeks has been so good for me and my family, but so bad for her. Honestly, I am having difficulty reconciling it. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, and me too, for that matter. I need His help to work out what to do in this whole thing. If anyone has had to go through this before, I'd like to know what resources you used. A book got recommended to me, but it seems to focus on dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia. I'd like something a little different, I think.

In Conclusion

Well, that wasn't as long as I thought it would be. Here's wishing all of you a safe and happy New Year. May your life be blessed to overflowing, and may you make wise and considered decisions. Two bits of advice, both stolen from different sources:

1. Always wear sunscreen.
2. Don't be hasty.

God bless.

I like saying "Happy Christmas" too. Makes me feel like a Dickens' character. Not Dikkens with two k's, the well-known Dutch author.

Maybe two people are laughing at that right now, and one of them is me.

I have spent a significant amount of time this afternoon walking around the neighborhood with a found dog. I don't have all the details (it warrants further conversation with Teresa), but evidently a neighbor found this dog and, somehow, it ended up in our hands. Teresa took her to the vet to see if there was a microchip, but no dice. Right now she is curled up in our kennel in front of the fire, and Teresa is out posting up fliers.

As I was typing that last sentence, the owner called! Owner and toy Manchester have been re-united. I'm glad for them, and also glad that we won't have to keep the dog for the weekend. Selfish, I know. Mostly, I'm glad that the owner found her dog.

Back to Merry Christmas.

Here is wishing you and all of your family and friends a very Happy Christmas. I sincerely hope that you have had a wonderful year, and I hope that the gifting that you enjoy this season is a joy to you. I cannot wait until Christmas morn, when the girls will open their gifts and their eyes will light up. As for me, I want nothing. Their joy and my family's blessed state is my gift.

God bless us, every one.

I'm not sure why I used that title. My brain is weird.

Today is the second day in training. The instructor, Nathan, is very cool and really knows his stuff. He's patient with students who are struggling with the basic concepts and is willing to answer any questions. I'm not brown-nosing...I seriously doubt he is reading this. After all, there's only 5 of you out there.

It's still raining. Imagine that.

So, my hotel is right next to Safeco Field, home of the Mariners. In fact, the view out my window is the front gate with a giant poster of Ichiro. Safeco is right next to Qwest Stadium, which I walk past twice a day to and from the office building. the building is owned by Paul Allen, so one plus of that is that you get good cell reception everywhere, even in the elevators.

Five minutes until class starts. Time to be a good boy now.

Ah Seattle. I had forgotten.

Seattle is such a beautiful city, and the views from corporate HQ are phenomenal. Looking north, the Space Needle is framed by skyscrapers and the grey northern clouds. West, the lake is visible, dotted with sailboats regardless of weather. I once read a Tom Robbins book placed in Seattle. His idea was to plant blackberries on every rooftop of the city, covering the city in a canopy of leaves and thorns, filtering the sunlight and funneling the rain. Sounds good on paper.

Yesterday felt more like my first day than last week did. I met new co-workers and was able to put faces to names. Today I start the technical training, after I spend two hours with HR. I'm jazzed.

I'm sitting in a coffee shop right now, typing this in Notepad because all the wireless is secured and/or requires a uname/pwd to access. I'll post it and date/timestamp it accordingly.

Haley, if you are still unable to post a comment, let me know. I will need to fix that.

Until tomorrow...

Another airport post. I'll be less heavy, I promise.

So, last night the entire family participated in a Christmas performance that was put on by our congregation in Rancho Cordova. We had a great time. The performance consisted of Christmas songs interspersed with drama bits that told the story of Christ's birth. I sang tenor, Teresa sang alto, and the girls were in the children's choir. Anne hated the association, but she did a wonderful job. Also, as part of the drama bits, Anne played on of the shepherds and I was the angel Gabriel. The costumes were great and the acting bits were fun. I wish I had a little more time with the lines, but that's okay. I tried to keep my little cards as discreet as possible. Everyone said we did good, but the performers RARELY get the honest assessment. I'm counting on Haley to tell me how we really did. Regardless, we had a blast. Teresa was very surprised at how much fun she had singing...she's not naturally a performer. Supposedly it was recorded, so I don't know how that is going to be.

It's been cold the past few days and the rains have finally started. I'm sure the resorts are loving it, it's been really thin so far this year.

I'm flying to Seattle today to do training and other things...mostly training, though. My early flight got cancelled, so I'm on a 9 o'clock flight now. If I had known, I would have slept in. No biggie.

Change of Subject:

ATTENTION AMERICA! Your propensity to assign dinky MIDI files of bad 80's songs as your ring tone is slowly driving me mad. Please stop immediately.

Okay. You can resume your regularly scheduled programming. See? that wasn't so hard, was it?