It was great to go see him there… a big boy… all grown up… … :( Where did my little boy go!? :( I feel really bad for him because I know it must be so overwhelming to him. He doesn’t understand all the good this is doing for his character, etc. Ehh, by the end of the day he’s forgotten the trauma of the morning so it’s all good. I feel really bad for Heidi though. Having to go through that every morning… well, not every morning, but you know. It’s tough to watch your son feel so scared and nervous and not rescue him…

I can’t wait to go pick him up at the end of the day! :)

Seems our evaporative coil and condenser coils were mismatched because the outside condenser unit was replaced with no thought put toward what the evaporative coil was like inside. So, we had a 5 ton condenser coil, and a 3.5 ton evap coil which meant we were cooling off the refrigerant faster than it could absorb the heat from the air. In addition, we had a leak somewhere in the system, which is what prompted the initial call for assistance. Long story short, the coils match now, the leak was probably in the replaced coil, and we should be able to run the unit at a lower temperature than we initially thought and actually improve efficiency.

The A/C fun basically shot our Saturday to hell, and not much at all got done today either. But, that’s ok. Sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield…

Tomorrow, I go find out what’s wrong with my back. If someone mentions surgery, then someone will be getting the finger.

The patient will be asked to lie on a narrow table which slides into a large tunnel-like tube within the scanner. … There is no pain. The magnetic field and radio waves are not felt. The primary possible discomfort is the claustrophobic feeling that some experience from being inside the scanner. The table may be hard or cold, but you can request a blanket or pillow. The machine produces loud thumping and humming noises during normal operation. Ear plugs are usually given to the patient to reduce the noise. …

Narrow table? Check. Large tunnel-like tube? Not sure where the “large” one is, but not at Eastside Imaging, where I went. The tube has a space just wide enough for my shoulders, and left about 3 inches of space from my face to the roof of this “tube”. Not what I would call large. I’m not claustrophobic, but it did take some mental energy to not freak out in there. The machine is damn noisy! Oh, and you can’t feel the radio waves or the mag field? BULLSHIT I say. I felt like my bones were rattling at a very high frequency. It wasn’t painful, but it would have been nice to expect that sensation rather than having it dropped on me as a nice surprise!

So, my conclusion is it’s a wonderful technology. However, if you are claustrophobic they might pull you out slightly more nuts than you went in.

Why the MRI? Well, I have pretty cronic back problems, and it’s been bad lately. So we’re going to try to find out why… Stay tuned for what we find! Hopefully it’s fixable.

So, there you have it. I haven’t blogged in forever, blah blah blah blah I want to post more often, blah blah blah, <insert joke about how few readers I have> yadda yadda yadda. The probable reality is that I will likely not update for another huge stretch of time, but I really do want to try!!

So, what’s been going on in our lives for those of you who don’t know? Rhys is five freakin years old now! Insane! It seems like only yesterday that we were going through all the bullshit in the NICU, and then all the stupid ass therapy sessions. I say that because it was a pain, not because they aren’t professionals or anything. Those folks really were a godsend. But, again, so long ago… Looking at him now you’d not know he had all those issues. You clearly see all of my crazy on him, peppered with mom’s crazy too, but you’d dismiss it as normal and maybe mumble something about “poor kid”.

I still have a wonderful job at Cogswells Cogs ;) and am loving almost every minute of it. :) I’ve recently taken to ramping up my side businesses in the form of a second job since this economy is in the toilet. Boy, am I glad Obama passed that stimulus package. Can you imagine how bad it would be if he hadn’t? Whew. Thanks Mr. Obama, you rock like Chopin on tranqs.

And on that note, I’m gonna get back to work, and hopefully blog just a bit more often. :) Hope all is well out there in Happyland!

WRT160N v2

Way to go, you Cisco F-tards. If you are having problems with your WRT160N v2 router timing out with DNS issues, then you are not alone. Seems the asshats at Cisco skimped on the RAM in this unit, and it’s causing serious issues with build 11 of the firmware. What’s more, is they are being OH so responsive with their help.

Once again, we’ve been left to our own devices to “fix” this issue. Basically the fix is to downgrade to build 8, which of course is not something Linksys is assisting with. I’ve included a link to the thread where everyone is bitching about the problem below, and a link to an awesome tutorial provided by a concerned netizen. :) Well done, Paul!! Thanks much!

Linksys Thread: http://forums.linksysbycisco.com/linksys/board/message?board.id=Wireless_Routers&thread.id=119107

Paul’s Awesome Tutorial: http://audipages.com/router/

She also was nice enough to plan a generous portion of downtime (which is truly what I need to recharge). I like goin out with the family and doing the tourist stuff, but nothing recharges me like sitting in a hotel room and ordering room-service. :-D

I think the last vacation wwe went on was to Mexico with Drew and Cyn… That was years(?) ago I’m pretty sure! This short break is LONG overdue, and I think Heidi is working on a followup vacation to follow later in the year. Two vacations a year should be a minimum, right!?

Guess what, I’m planning to write on this thing more. I know, I know. You didn’t see that one coming right? :) Let’s see if I can update with something half way interesting before two weeks pass.

For a total lack of anything interesting to say, I thought I’d link a cool site I found.

The New House

I still feel as if we are just moving into the new house. We aren’t quite settled yet. Most of the boxes are gone, and most rooms are fairly organized. We’ve been having lots of landscaping and repairs done by Cottonwood Landscaping. The yard and house are looking much better now! It was a rental before it foreclosed and it showed! Neighbors have come up and thanked us for fixing it, and the HOA commented on how glad they are we moved in. hahahah Speaking of which, the HOA here ROCKS.

Once again we fail at taking pictures. So we have not many before pictures to show the contrast of the work that’s been done. Yeah, we’re working on getting better at that whole pictures thing. I am going to take a bunch of pictures of the house when I get home today to post for everyone to see.

My Day Job

My day job is going well. It’s nice to do something I love to do, and even the worst day here is better than the best day I had at MindPlay (if you don’t count the Sales Meetings, since I was drunk for that). The new team is getting ready to unveil our “Hello World” effort here soon. We’ll soon either be heroes or laughing stocks. :)

My Side Job

The side jobs are keeping me busy with coding as well. Joel and I still are trucking away trying to find a better way to make a living.

We’ve got The Joel Gaines Show — the political talk show. Broadcasting live every Sunday at 4pm Arizona time. Joel is getting noticed by local radio, and we got our first affiliate station in Texas just recently. So, that’s good news.

We’ve still got House Trevethan — the software development company. Right now it mainly exists for the projects that we are spearheading, but it has enough clients outside of our projects to fund the servers for our personal efforts.

Not our latest project, but the one that has just recently been given a jolt of sorts is Internet Radio Magazine. This is basically an e-Mag that we are creating to help consolidate internet radio. We want to provide a directory of shows, resources for hosts, reviews for equipment, interviews with power players in the industry, and basically anything to do with internet radio. We’ve got an interview with Joe Kennedy, the CEO of Pandora Radio coming up on the 27th! That’s gonna be fun!

If any of these projects interest you, give me a shout and lets see if we can collaborate!

The Family

Last, and most certainly not least is my family. Things are pretty fabulous in this department. Even in light of all the stress of change and the pressure behind unfinished projects, the family is happier than we’ve ever been. I couldnt imagine life with out my wife, son, and mother supporting me. So, thanks for that!

My wife purchased a C++ tome that I’ve had my eye on for awhile, and I cracked it open today to begin studying. I’m not sure what I expected to find in this tome, but so far I’ve come away with a slight distaste if not disrespect for C#. I also feel the pull of the Open Source magnet once again. I don’t think it would be prudent just yet to start moving back to that area, but again, I’ve come away with a broader horizon, and bigger picture of the way things are. The jury is still out on if I have what it takes to become the next John Carmack, or even a quarter of what skill that man possesses, but I’m certainly going to start down the road and see where it takes me. :)

PS: I’d like to apologize to my family in advance… I love you guys for supporting me during these times of intense study. :) You are my inspiration and the reason that any of this matters a damn. :)

She also told me, “What happened to you? You used to be so dark, and now you are the whitest I’ve ever seen you! And all those liver spots on you…”

I promptly flipped her the bird, “LIVER SPOTS!?!?! What? You mean my freckles!?” See what I have to put up with here? :)

I fear the code is consuming me. Turning me into a Smeagol of sorts. My precious… If I start losing my hair, and talking to myself (more than normal) then someone please come kick me in the face and torch my computer.

On a serious note: We’re “that much” more moved in. :) I say that because it seems immeasurable. I know we are getting tons done, but things aren’t really moving at a pace that leaves a mark in the face of the list we have left to do. Even with everything in disarry, however, we are more happy here than on our best day at the other house. This is definitely our place. I think we will be here a good long time. I’ll post pictures once we clear out more of the boxes and what not.

Just wanted to make a post of some sort since I have been incognito for a spell.

Either way, we are now ready to start out new life, in our new house. I still don’t have my desk, so I’m working on folding tables, but, at least I have my precious internet back and Heidi can get her fix as well (don’t let her tell you she’s not as addicted to the internet as I am).

I still don’t quite feel recharged and ready to have at everything, but I think now I can start recharging again. This time, I will allow myself to do so, and not throw myself into a whirlwind of life changing events again. I’ve got one weekend left to enjoy the peace before I get back to work. I’m looking forward to getting back into the game, both figuratively and literally (I miss my Eve).

So, I think 2009 will FINALLY be our year! :)