So many things...

Our Joy

2012-04-30T10:42:00.001-04:00

Once again life has taken over and left little time for things like ye ol blogger.
However since last post we have had our beautiful baby girl Elizabeth Ann.
She is an absolute joy. Here are a few pics...

Another Long While...

2010-07-19T19:39:00.006-04:00

Alot of stuff going on since last. At least the oil spill has been capped by BP. Bout frikkin time... Thought this was worth the post... What happens when BP spills coffee.

VerveEarth

2008-03-03T16:53:00.004-05:00

Got an email the other day about VerveEarth. So I was board and added the blog real quick. It's pretty neat. It geographically lists where you (and your blog) are located. So I added it to the sidebar and did this quick write up. Check it out if you get a minute.

As far as everything else things are going well. Wedding planning and what not are keeping us (well mostly Mary Ellen) busy. I think I am going to head down to Cincy this weekend to fix up my sisters wireless. I rebuilt her laptop last weekend and now it seems her router took a dump; but we will see.

Work is also going well. Things are busy and time is flying by. Tomorrow I take my forth MS exam (70-431, SQL 2005), so hopefully that goes well. It is not on my track right now, but am taking it to fulfill a work requirement. Spring is on its merry way too! Over 60 degrees today! Can’t wait for it to hit full swing. That is all for now. Talk to everyone later...

Engaged!

2008-02-12T18:40:00.004-05:00

That's right, I did the deed. It happened over Christmas vacation on December 22nd in NYC. We arrived on the 21st with my family and proceeded to my Grandmothers house. I love seeing my family and was naturally in good spirits anyway. The 22nd started out normally, eating breakfast with my family and talking about the typical Christmas events. Mary Ellen and I had already decided to take the train into the city that day and do some touristy site seeing and what not. Being from NY I have not done the tourist attractions in the normal sense. That made a great excuse to get into the city and do those types of things without causing much eyebrow rising from Mary Ellen. The only thing I had to convince her was to bring some nice clothes so we could "pop-in" somewhere nice for dinner (she thought I was crazy, oh and she was right). So I carried our stuff in a backpack all day. Keep in mind my family knew everything I was planning.

We arrived at Grand Central about 1:30. We then decided to go use the restrooms at the Hyatt since it is right by GC and a very nice place. Luckily they were open and took note that it may be a good place to change later. We took some pictures and walked around a bit before making our way around the block to the Chrysler Building. The Chrysler Building is a very beautiful and old structure. To this day it is the worlds tallest brick building. So after talking and pictures we took the subway down to Canal St. (Chinatown). It was packed. It's usually busy, but being the weekend before Christmas it was exceptionally crowded. We walked around for a while and then stopped to eat at XO's, a small authentic Chinese restaurant. Very good. By the time we finished up it was about 3:30. From there we took the subway down to Battery Park. There we mingled with street vendors, watched some ghetto dancers, and admired the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We were going to take the boat out and visit the statue but both happily agreed that it was too cold (and I had a schedule to keep). From there we took the 1 train up to Penn Station at 34th street and made our way to The Empire State Building. It, like Chinatown, was very busy. It took a while to get up to the top, but completely worth it. There was a thin cloud layer that was hovering right in the middle of the then green lit peek, totally awesome. Once we made it back to the street it was about 7:00 and 20 degrees warmer. =) I knew that I had to move along and suggested that we go and change at the Hyatt. It was kind of a long walk but not all that bad. By the time we were cleaned up and moving again it was about 7:40 or so and headed to go see the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. While on the walk I began to build up for the moment. Stating how we got along so well, why were good together, etc. Once we made it the place was a sardine can. It made 5th Ave. and Canal St. look like we were standing in an open field. We took some pictures of one another standing in front of the tree, though I don’t think they turned out very well since we had to stand so close to one another. I then suggested that we try and get of the crowd and began to head toward the building. Once we made it I said "we should go inside and see what's going on"; and with an odd look she agreed. I then walked up to the desk and asked where the entrance to Top of the Rock was. She was surprised that there was actually something to do, but wasn’t exactly sure what it was. As we walked I explained that it was an observation deck on top of Rockefeller Plaza. There was practically no line as the deck had just recently re-opened and very few people knew about it. The view was spectacular. Seeing the ESB from there was just amazing. After walking around for a few minutes I found an unoccupied corner to pop the question. I said a few words, got down on one knee and proposed. After some clapping, cheers, and pictures I informed Mary Ellen that the reason we had to bring clothes and rush over to The Rock was because we had 8:15 reservations at the Sea Grille downstairs. We arrived at exactly 8:15, our coats and bag were taken and proceeded to our seats that sat at the window no further the 2 feet away from the ice skating rink with a perfect view of the gold statues and the Christmas Tree. Dinner was wonderful, a truly perfect end to the perfect day. After dinner we called our families, walked back to GC, and headed back to my Grandmothers house to enjoy congratulations and champagne with my family. I could not have planned it to the second any better. Yes, I rock. =P

New Car...

2007-10-21T13:20:00.001-04:00

Love it. Picked up a 2005 Nissan Maxima a few months ago. Not new new, but new to me. It has all the bells and whistles I need. So, here are a few Pics for your viewing enjoyment. Hope everyone is doing well, and I will try to post some good news soon.... more to come concerning that topic later. ;-)

Also, heres a quick look at the ride just in case you dont have five seconds to jump over to Flickr

a VERY long time...

2007-07-09T16:11:00.000-04:00

Well, from the looks of it I have not published one single post for over one year and three months. What I really can't believe is that I still remember my password!! It seems that much has changed in that time; Google now runs the place, along with Feedburner and many others. But the look and feel that originally caught my eye still seem to reside. So, my promise is that I will at least make the attempt to post a few more blogs then I have over the past year. Fulfilling that promise should not be difficult. =) I hope all is well and will talk to you soon....

Sales Tax

2006-05-03T19:10:00.000-04:00

I am sure most of you out there have received the, in my humble opinion, less then fair tax refund that our gracious government has granted us the people of the United States. Now, to be fair, my situation is not ideal in the respect that I should assume a large refund will be rewarded. Being um-married, childless, and home(owner)less certainly yields a smaller return. Though every year that passes I seem to feel a bit more bitter toward our Tax Code. Getting back less then one peroid of pay just somehow doesn't sit right with me anymore. And on May 1, as im sure you all know, many of the the illegal immigrants went to strike so to let the Nation know how upset they are with the way our Federal Government treats them. Well now let me just state that taking home approximately 54 percent of my check bi-weekly has also left a somewhat sour taste in my mouth, along with the extremely light refund. And dont get me wrong, the immigration sttuation is completely out of control, and I feel that all those people need to be paying the same tax as any resident of the US.
EDIT:This post was just updated over a year and a half later after the orininal edit. Sooo, please excuse this little rant, we just need a Flat Tax.

Dad

2006-04-06T19:07:00.000-04:00

Things are going well overall, but had a bit of a scare yesterday. My dad was in a serious car accident. He is doing OK today, but is in a lot pain. Had some stitches in his forehead, and his chest and stomach are badly bruised. His leg and arm are also in pretty bad shape, but considering the severity of the accident he is doing quite well. He also was not wearing his seatbelt. So, very lucky. Other then that, things are going pretty good. When / if I can get some pictures of the car I will post them.

Google Search

2006-03-02T18:40:00.000-05:00

Set up the site and google search option. Though it seems that the site search does not work at all. I thought I must have done something wrong, but when I went to other blogs with the search bar the same results occurred. Owell, it's cool i guess if you happen to be at my blog and get a hankering to search for something... Later all...

Google Ads

2006-03-01T17:42:00.000-05:00

Set up Google Ads yesterday. Pretty cool and easy to do, its on the sidebar. Now it is up to you all to start clickin away. Give it a try, see how you like it...

ClusterMaps

2006-02-26T10:10:00.000-05:00

Added Clustermaps to the sidebar yesterday. It displays in sized red dots where your site has been viewed from throughout the world. For the dots to be updated the number of hits need to be increased by ten percent from the previous poll. It's pretty cool, free. Check it out here.

Sunday hayz

2006-02-12T12:27:00.000-05:00

Ya know, I always complain about Sundays and how I despise them. But now that football season has drawn to a close I think they are even more difficult to stand. With football around you could guarantee at least four or so hours of some entertainment that would at least attempt to hold your attention. Though I must admit the TV people play it very well that the very next week after football season, the Olympics start. I can not recall if there has always been that impeccable timing, but nonetheless, well played. Gotta keep those ratings up.

Long time no Blog

2006-02-11T11:09:00.000-05:00

Hello all. It has been over a month since I have updated my blog, and just wanted to let you know that I am still alive an kicking. The new job has been keeping my time thin, making it difficult to accomplish things like this. Work is great though. I feel like the team has jelled into an efficient deployment team, though there have been some obvious site issues that are slow to be corrected, nothing that will prohibit this project from completion. Have to run now, just wanted to drop a quick update... Cya all.

A late Happy New Year

2006-01-10T21:00:00.000-05:00

Yes all once again another year has passed; soon taxes will be due, spring and summer will shine their joyful faces, high school will begin for all the teenagers, then halloween, thanksgiving, and it's Christmas time once again. Another full rotation of the calendar year summed up in one fragmented sentence. My my how time flies.

Things are going absolutely great in my little world. The new job is wonderful thus far, keeping me extremely busy. Our first cycle of production deployment has started this week therefore keeping my schedule full and the days passing with great velocity. I am not complaining to any extent though, my 'happy to be busy' attitude and new found respect for checks is prohibiting that indefinitely. =) This will also be my first MLK day (the 16th) off since I was in high school. I think I am going to enjoy the government schedule...

Until next time...

All things new

2005-12-27T13:22:00.000-05:00

Well all, I trust everyone had an excellent Christmas holiday. I hope Santa was good to you. I had a wonderful time in NY where I spend every Christmas with my family. (That is where I am from originally). The new job is starting off well, slow, but well. There is a lot of bureaucracy to get through up front, as I'm sure in the middle and end as well, though I have not been there just yet. I have submitted my clearance papers and now have my 'temporary tags' to legally get on base. I have also been informed that the SMS Administrative Team Leads will now not be doing any of the first leg of traveling, so most of my time will be spent in the NOSC deploying remotely once the hardware is in place. As for the remaining 17 bases thereafter that is yet to be determined. So some traveling may still be in my future, only time will tell. That's about it for now, once again I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a very happy and safe New Year!! Over and out...

As promised,

2005-12-06T17:54:00.000-05:00

I will elaborate some on the previous post.
Well to start, I have submitted my two weeks notice to my current employer O'Neil & Associates, Inc. I greatly appreciate all the friends I have made and knowledge I have acquired over the past four years; but the time has come to move ahead to bigger and better things.

I have accepted a position as a contractor to work a new project at Wright Pat Air Force Base. There will be a ton of upfront travel, but should calm down a bit there after. The position will consist of deploying SMS to all the Air Force bases in America, very exciting, very large scale. Definitely the largest project I have ever had the opportunity to be involved on. So overall, very happy, excited, and a little overwhelmed. But in the end I know it will all work out. I just need to apply the same drive and motivation I have here at O'Neil.

Also, there is a new 'chick' in my life. She is great. Very intelligent, outgoing, and easy to talk to. I hope things work out.

I will keep you all updated as to these new and exciting events in my life. Have a great week all!!

Happy December All

2005-12-01T16:26:00.004-05:00

Today is the first day of the last month in the year 2005. I am in an outrageously great mood today. Many many things in my life are really coming together. It is a very exciting time. I shall elaborate more next week, I promise.

But for now, kick back and enjoy some videos...

(These are in Flash format hosted at www.youtube.com.)

One of my all time favs... Im Rick James... Bitch
BiTch

And here's a crazy ass dog...
Dogg

You can view many other flash videos posted at YouTube.com for your time wasting enjoyment.

Hey Hey

2005-11-22T08:27:00.000-05:00

Good mornin my fellow bloggers. I am sorry I have neglected you for so long but things have busy as all get out. I am in a spectacular mood this Tuesday, mby because this is a short week, mby because the holiday season with all it's warm feelings are upon us, or just mby because tomorrow is my 27th birthday. Who knows. I do feel like im getting 'old' though. I understand its just a frame of mind, but you can only say that for so long b4 you become the 35yr old sitting in the bar with a bunch of twenty somethings. Nontheless, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Be safe, and get drunk... =P

Wow, IE (doesn't) suk.

2005-11-11T00:52:00.000-05:00

Hmm, as it seems now my previous post holds no water at all. It actually was the formatting of the Beach pictures causing all the strange layout issues, or my complete lack of proper html skills. You choose. So, I must extend my most sincere apologies to IE, and Uncle Bill. I suppose there is a reason that he is amongst the wealthiest ppl in the word... Also, reading some of the comments I did visit a slower link and noticed the unacceptable load time, so the pic's have been scaled from a total of 5.57mb to 348kb... much better. Too bad we all can't get 800 down.

Wow, IE sux.

2005-11-05T08:33:00.000-05:00

Bad. I mean really. If you are checking out this blog and you use IE your more then likely saying 'this guy is a complete tard'. I just looked at how it displays (because one of my friends said something about it yesterday) and it is a total disaster. I mean my sidebar is at the bottom of the page, it spans all the pics I have horizontally totally ignoring the 'break' option, the text is all squashed up to the edge of the window on the left, the only thing thats actually 'centered' is the title, I mean it looks totally awful. I just changed the layout of all the 'Beach' pictures b/c I thought that might be the problem, but no. I am very disapointed and would love to know from those of you out there how it looks in your browser. Just let me know what browser you use, what your resolution is, and what your font size is set to. Here is what the top of the page should look like, and here is what the pic posts should look like, not all streached and overlaping. Or, just use Firefox, it seems to solve a lot of these issues. And to quote my friend Sparkey... "Thats where Poop goes!" :-)

Pretty good week

2005-10-27T21:08:00.000-04:00

Feelin pretty good. Played in a poker tourney at my buddys last Sat and came in first. 190 pay out, not too bad. Fair week at work, nothing too crazy happened. Met with my 'financial advisor' today, might be good news; I shall elaborate at a later date. Was supposed to go to Athens for Halloween this freekend but I think im gonna bail on my friend, hope he dosnt mind. This just in, goin to the Bengals game on Sunday vs Greenbay, I hope we whoop em. Shouldnt have lost last week, that was crap. Anyway, im outta here, later yall...

Ups and Downs

2005-10-17T12:40:00.000-04:00

Well, another week is here and soon to be gone. It was kind of an up and down weekend. An old friend/acquaintance from high school passed away unexpectedly on Saturday. He was a huge influence on the community and an all around great guy. You may have heard of Jason before as he played in the NBA; and was also named Ohio's Mr. Basketball in 1996. He left behind a wife and young baby. Very unfortunate. I was going to talk about some other sports teams but I think that will wait for another post... Very sad.

UPDATE:
Here is a video of Jason played at his memorial at Catholic Central where we attended high school.

New Feed.

2005-10-12T11:49:00.000-04:00

Sweet. I added a new RSS / XML feed link on the side bar. Works very well with all your average feed readers. Just add the pointer and you are all set. I like and use RSS Bandit for all my stuff. Very straight forward, easy to use, highly customizable, and supports a ton of sync utilities etc. Check out the feature list.
Also, I must give super props to FeedBurner.com! This site rocks the house. Not only do they convert your blog to XML for you, they also host, hit count, reader / aggrator / bot count it, and give you about a thousand other free tools at your disposal. I am still fingering through all the stuff myself, so there may be additional posts later concerning the amount of sweetness that seeps from the depths of the FeedBurner domain.

So. What do I need to do this on my own blog you quietly mutter?
First, go to FeedBurner.com, enter your blog link, and hit next, next, activate (obviously signing up, taking note of url, etc). Then go to 'My Feeds' > Publicize > Chicklet Chooser to get your html code. Copy that..
Second, go to your blog and paste the code wherever you want it to display and republish. BAM, there it is with the new link on your page.
Third, download and install RSS Bandit from download.com (i couldn't seem to get it from SourceForge). Then add your new Feedburner URI to 'New Feed..'. Thats it, your done. Also be sure to change the properties of the link to display 'Older then' whatever you want, you know, to see all your posts...

Happy XMLing...

Disappointing weekend.

2005-10-11T12:27:00.000-04:00

Well this weekend sucked for all the sports teams I follow. First off, OSU lost at Penn State. It was really a disappointing display of football all together. I know in some previous posts I was knocking Zwick a little, but Smith needs to understand that he can not do it all either. I will say no more.

Now im not a big golf fan either, but the Woods / Daly showdown was pretty intense. If you watched the event you know Daly chocked on the 2nd green (i think it was the 16th hole). He had, more or less, a tap-in to take it to another hole and lipped it out. He was so pissed that he could hardly shake anyone's hand. I felt soo bad for him, i wanted him to take it.

Now to the Bungals. I love seeing Natti doing well. That was their game to win, though a valiant effort considering they were up against one of the best defensive lines in the league. HooDey bitches...

My Wife...?

2005-10-05T16:26:00.000-04:00

Wellp, if I ever find this woman I will do everything in my power to assist her in falling deeply in love with me.... raaaaaaarrrr

Beautiful, I mean look at those eyes and that smile...My gosh