Geek's Journey - Still 8 Bits per Byte

New Tech for Father's Day

2011-06-21T20:43:00.000-04:00

For Father's day last Sunday, my family got me a Motorola Xoom tablet. I have be lusting after them for a while. It was a complete surprise. In my opinion it is better than I had heard. It is a great media "consumption" device. Books, music, and video all perform well on this device.

On the bad side, my son's head pain came back 3 months ago. We got him to the doctor that helped before but the treatment didn't work. He is having a terrible summer as are his mother and I. The doctor is still looking at what options we have. Need to get something done before collage in August.

This was also the first Father's Day since my dad passed away. It was harder on me than I expected. I missed calling him and listen to his complaining. I am glad we had gotten closer those last few years.

Still looking for another job. The one I wrote about a few months ago just didn't work out. I was picked for the position but the benefit package just was not nearly good enough. I will keep looking and hopefully something will open up. I am luckier than some; I have a good paying job with stability.

Possible New Job

2011-03-03T13:46:00.001-05:00

I have been looking for a change for a few weeks now. My current long commute is getting tiresome and with the good chance of much higher gas prices, I felt the time was right. I used one of the large online job sites and now have had a phone screening and am scheduled for a face to face interview. The job is very close and looks to be just what I am looking for. If it works out I will miss the people I work with but I have to move on.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T21:45:00.000-05:00

Another Christmas has come and gone. It was good to spend time with family. But the loss of my wife's and my father this year has had an impact. Neither of us was very close to our fathers but their loss was felt during the holiday season.

With the health issues that other members of the family have, I think we will be loosing more before next Christmas.

New Router

2010-10-24T19:46:00.000-04:00

After a power surge bricked my router, I went out a purchased a Linksys E1000. I did have problems getting it set up, which is not what I had experienced from Linksys products before. After trying different approaches, I started an online chat with Cisco tech support. In less than 20 min the issue was identified and new install software downloaded. Following the instructions provided, I got the router set up in 15 minutes. Took about an hour to get all my network rebuilt, but everything is working.

This week is the last week of testing for the phase II of my major .Net application. I hope that the testers do what they are supposed to do. This project has high visibility and I want a clean go live.

Son's First Visit Home

2010-09-05T22:31:00.001-04:00

My son who left for his freshman year in college in August came home for the holiday weekend. It was a great visit; I think he is adjusting well. We will all miss him but he will be home again in a month or so.

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Son off to College

2010-08-24T20:44:00.001-04:00

Today took my son to start his freshman year at college. It will be strange not seeing him everyday. I hope he has a great four years.

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Son is Off to College

2010-08-23T12:05:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow my second oldest son leaves for his freshman year at college. While I know this will be a wonderful experience for him, I will worry about him. With all the medical issues he had, I hope that he thrives at school. O am sure we will keep in touch. It will seem very strange no seeing him every day.

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Buried My Father

2010-08-18T21:50:00.001-04:00

Today I buried my father. It seems strange that I will never see or talk with him again.

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My Father Passes

2010-08-13T23:01:00.000-04:00

24 hours ago at 10:55 pm on August 12, 2010 my father P. Richard Henry passed away. Today was busy collecting his personal papers and making the final arraignments for him. He and I were not really close but we got along fine and spent some time together. Despite all our faults (his and mine) we were father and son. I will miss him.

Work Week Winding Down

2010-07-30T14:19:00.001-04:00

Another fun work week is coming to a close. I got quite a lot done this week even though we are short handed. One major web project went live early and I got two major requirements done for another. I was to have a budget application go live today but testing started late and the manager of the application is not around to sign off.

The freelance project just keeps going and going. I released it two weeks ago and now the client wants the site layout changed. We will meet next week to discuss.

Hopefully this weekend I can get a serious start on some Silverlight development.

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First Droid Post

2010-07-29T21:02:00.001-04:00

I am seeing how posting from my droid works. Maybe I will be a more regular poster.

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New Mobile.... Finally!

2010-05-16T00:19:00.000-04:00

After waiting two years, I have finally gotten a smart phone. Boy, did I go to the top of the currently available phones. On Friday, 05.14.2010 I bought a HTC Droid Incredible. I cannot believe how great this piece of tech is. I have been playing with it for two days and can't believe what this phone and the applications that have been written can do. For me, this phone has performed beyond my expectations in ever way. I am still getting used to the touch screen keyboard but my slowness is an issue with me and not the phone. As I get more usage out of it I will let everybody know the pros and cons as I see them.

I am just about done with the freelance job that I have been working on. I have all the photos and text that I will need. I will be glad to get the site out to the customer so she can start using it. It's taken longer then I expected but some things were out of my control.

Major Microsoft Upgrade

2010-05-04T19:43:00.000-04:00

Two weekends ago, I finally did a major upgrade of my main workstation. I had been a bit worried about Windows 7; I had installed it for one of my children and was having issues (I thought) getting my wireless printer hooked up. The manufacturer's site said I had to cable the printer to the PC. Since it's on the other side of the room that was going to be a pain. I figured I would give Windows a chance to find it and install it. Worked fine.

I then went ahead and installed Windows 7, Visual Studio 2010, and Office 2010. After two weeks.... Nice job Microsoft. I am no Microsoft Fan-boy, but they did a great job here. I am looking forward using these apps.

Web Application Go Live

2010-03-18T20:55:00.000-04:00

Monday, the big project that I have been that I have been working on the last few months web live. Everything went smoother that I expected. There were a few very minor issues; mostly user questions. This is just Phase I of the application; we already have our list of enhancements for Phase II. The plan is to release this application throughout the organization once Phase II is complete. If that happens, my team and I will get some very high visibility.

I the mean time I have been tasked with doing a major rewrite of another web application. It needs so work to polish it up. Most of the code (which I didn't write) is pretty solid. It also has hight visibility so I want to make sure all the client issues are addressed.

Web Developer Web Site

2010-02-25T20:05:00.000-05:00

I ran across a very useful web site on Slashdot the other day. The site is called Smashing Magazine and it's filled with well written articles on all phases of web design. The original Slashdot article was talking about the book that the site has just put out but for now I am more interested in the site itself. In addition to the articles the site contains many useful downloads. I highly recommend checking the site out.

On a related note, once my freelance project is completed (next week I hope), I am going to finally do a total overhaul of my personal site. Curently the whole site is password protected and has not been redone since 2007. I am going to see if I can include some Silverlight based controls.

Father-in-Law Passes

2010-02-13T23:23:00.000-05:00

This afternoon at about 4:00 p.m. my wife's father passed away. Even though they were not very close, his death has had an impact on her. She was with him at the end which makes it even harder on my wife. He was heavily medicated at the end so the end was painless as possible.

Requiescat in Pace

Getting Slammed with Snow

2010-02-10T13:52:00.005-05:00

No work today. I live in the northeast and am really getting slammed by the snow storm. I had a terrible time getting home last night but I made it with no damage to the car. Today there was no way I was going to be able to get in. I'll bet that I will be not going anywhere tomorrow.

I stepped out and took a few photos from my garage. If you are living in warm climates this is what you are missing...Not.

I did bring some work home so I can get payed for at least part of the day. I am just finishing up a major project for the client. So far everyone is very happy with it. If successful it's going to be a big accomplishment and become very well know in certain circle.

Here are some more snow pictures. THINK SPRING!!

Blogs and Other Social Media

2010-01-22T21:55:00.003-05:00

Despite my extensive use of the web, until recently I never was into the social media aspect of the internet. Now that I have started a new job and am separated from people that I have known for years, I find that I am able to stay in touch with them. In addition, I have started to get back in touch with my classmates from collage via Facebook. I am not to the point that I think I'll start using Twitter; I can't seem to keep this blog updated very often.

New Decade

2009-12-31T22:31:00.003-05:00

The first decade of the 21st century will soon draw to a close. For my family and I, it's been filled with lots a bad luck. But we have each other and that's what is most important. It will be interesting to see what the next 10 years brings.

The new job is going very well. I have been there just over three months and still feel that it was the right move to make.

An Ending - 01.21.1981 - 09.11.2009

2009-09-11T22:39:00.003-04:00

It's been over two years since I have posted here. It seems only fitting that I post tonight. After 28 years with the same firm, I resigned today and have taken a new job. One door closes and another opens. I wonder what the future holds; I hope it's everything I have hoped for.

Life Goes On

2007-07-23T21:40:00.000-04:00

It's been quite awhile since I last posted. Everything has pretty much gone the way I had hoped. It was decided that I did not need to have more surgery; the mesh stopped rejecting. In early July, my surgeon released me from her care. Other than having a nice scar and two navels; I am almost back to normal.

Work is picking up with one of our major clients wanting a demo of our product on short notice. In fact right now we are working out the bugs before the demo. Multi-tasking is such fun.

To Slice or not to Slice... That is the Question

2007-06-06T23:01:00.000-04:00

Over the last few weeks my surgeon has been monitoring my opening that I talked about in my last post (has it been over a month??). She is concerned that the mesh that she put in during my last surgery was being rejected by my body and needed to come out. I have outpatient surgery scheduled for June 22nd to do this.

However, over the last few weeks, I seem to be healing up quite well on my own. I am feeling much better and everything seems to be getting smaller. I see my surgeon on Monday to get the final decision. I am hoping that I don't have to go under the knife again.

Work is going ok, seems my days are filled with meetings and it's tough to get everything I need to done. Even though I am feeling much better, my stamina is not what it used to be. I am sure that it will come back in time.

Going Pop!

2007-05-01T08:47:00.000-04:00

Just when everything seemed to be going well, I have had a set back in my recovery. Last Tuesday, I was going to get some lunch when a 1 cm hole opened in my wound and drained about a pint of fluid all over my kitchen floor.

As you can imagine, I was pretty scared and gave my doctor a call right away. They said that it was a good thing that all that fluid drained. I was scheduled for an appointment for Friday anyway. The doctor took a sample of the fluid to see if my wound is infected. I have not been running a fever or feeling ill but I'll find out this Thursday for sure.

The biggest issue that I was having was that the wound wanted to drain every time I stood or sat up. The doctor has me (well my wonderful wife has to) putting packing in the wound twice a day which helps a lot. On the down side, the removal and insertion of the packing into the wound just about drives me nuts. Of all that I have gone through this bothers me the most. There is just something about having this hole and "stuff" going in and out. I can't even watch. I hope this is all over soon and I can get back to total recovery.

Back to Work

2007-04-17T14:27:00.000-04:00

Things are progressing very nicely. I am now on my second day of work and am feeling pretty good. I still get a bit tired but I am sure that will improve with time. I had all the staples pulled from the incision last week and am healing up very nice. I am sure looking forward to having a fun summer this year.

It's hard to believe that this medical issue took almost a year of my life away from me. I know the alternative would have been much worse. I just hope that I can make it up to my wife and family who supported me every day of my illness.

On the technical front (for a change), I am in the middle of a total redesign of the Boy Scout Troop web site that I support. It's really needed a change for sometime and with a new Scoutmaster the time was right. I hope to have it completed by June for rollout to the Troop and parents.

Back from the Hospital

2007-04-01T21:46:00.000-04:00

I made it back. The scheduled surgery went well until the gall bladder removal. Mine had completely rotted and at first the surgeon couldn't even find it. Finally got everything out and closed and all was well.

Two days later it was discovered that I had a blocked bile duct in my liver where the gall bladder had been removed. Another surgeon was call in and I was given the following choices: Do nothing and die in a day or so or have surgery that may fix the problem. If the surgery does not go well I will not make it out of the OR. My children were brought in from school so I would have a chance to see them before surgery. I don't mind saying that I have never, never been so scared in my life.

Somebody was watching over me. I made it. The surgeon said that he was able to access the duct and make repairs with few problems. The hospital stay was relatively short (11 days) and I came home yesterday. Two weeks to rest and recover and it's back to work and life.