Solutions Wanted

Problem number 1:

Some of you may know, and some may not, but I have used a Palm OS device since 1998 to keep track of information. Palm has discontinued their OS and have upgraded to another. Rachel and I recently upgraded to Palm Centro's (The last PalmOS phone to be made), when our contracts with Verizon ran out. Basically our plan was to keep what we knew for another contract, and then hopefully a new solution would present itself to us. This is working out, but the one problem we have always had is rearing its ugly head again. We can't share calendars.

As I said, I have been using a palm since 1998. I have calendar entries running back to at least 2001 in my calendar, and when I have changed jobs, I transfered over these entries from Outlook calendar to outlook calendar using my Palm PDA/Phone.

Rachel and I have a G5 tower at home that is our media/print server, and i would love it if I could put a monitor from it into the kitchen that showed a calendar on it (plus other stuff). I am having trouble figuring out the solution.

Here is the senario, I have info on my Outlook calendar/ipod touch/palm that are all synced (and in Color coded categories). Rachel has info on her phone that is currently not synced anywhere. I want to merge all of this onto the G5 Server at home so that we can share information. I must also be able to have my work schedule at work. It would be nice if Rachel could add stuff to her phone, then sync, and then I would be able to see changes.

Now, to throw stuff into the mix, I wouldn't be adverse to getting myself a new ipod touch and re-gifting mine to Rachel to facilitate this too. If there is a google calendar solution in here, that would be ok.

Problem 2
I am slowly moving all my info from my Palm to my ipod touch. With the Palm OS basically dieing and my phone being quite buggy, I just don't know if I can wait for the full two years. I used to carry two devices and don't have a problem doing it again.

I have already moved the following over: Fuel log, weight management, photos, Ebook reader, Bible, Calculator, news reader and games. There are a few items that I do on both devices, depending on what I have in hand at the time, but I have the following to move over: notes, password safe, alarm clock and Quicken.

I haven't found usable solutions to move my notes, or a solution to move mobile management of Quicken to the iphone. I would prefer to stay with Quicken, but if I can move to a solution that allows me to enter data mobilly and then sync to a desktop program, I am open as long as it can import my 10+ years of quicken data.

As far as an alarm clock, I have a first gen touch, so it doesn't have a speaker, so i don't know if I can move that over. Plus I have an amazing program on my palm that currently handles that duty, Palmary Clock.

I am evaluating password safes. Anyone have one they like on the ipod? I currently use YAPS

I currently do use the calendar and contacts on both the palm and the ipod, as they both sync with outlook, so they stay up to date. The palm calendar is heads and shoulders better than the ipod/iphone calendar, usability as well as functionality, so I still use the palm as my major data entry point, but have been drifting towards using outlook recently.

The Great Appliance Switchout of '09 & Network move

Some of you know, some don't, but Rachel and I have purchased a new home in Cincinnati. We still have the Minster House, but are hoping to sell it soon. The appliances that came with our new house are nice, but not as nice as the ones that we are used to in Minster. So we decided that we wanted to switch the appliances between the two houses. This is even harder than it sounds because I also have the washer from my mother at the apartment, and she has my washer in Waynesfield, so we needed to switch these out too. After planning how to transport everything and trying to find help, I decided to just go ahead and do it the weekend of September 11-13. Thankfully, my brother called me on the 9th and told me that if I couldn't find anyone to help that he would.

Thursday night (9/10), after work, Rachel and I drove to Kenwood to look at a microwave she had found on craigslist. This is to replace the Minster Microwave, and actually is a better model than we have there. The only problem is that after I bought it and got it to the car, I noticed that it looked a little yellow. Turns out it is not white, but Bisk colored. Oh well. After nice dinner at IHOP, we head back to the apartment and I mowed the lawn. Then I decided to pull the washer out of the basement. Now this washer is pretty light, but I still had some fun. This washer is a top loading industrial type. When I pulled it away from the wall, the upper cabinet came off the lower frame. What the heck!!. It turns out the whole upper cabinet is attached to the lower frame by two screws in the back. After I found the screws on the floor where they had vibrated out, I was able to put the washer back together. Then I used a dolly and got it up the stairs and into the trailer. Boy am I glad that I decided to do this on Thursday and not on Friday.

Friday night (9/11) after work, I headed to the apartment, wished Rachel and the boys a good trip to my parents, loaded up the trailer, the dog, my tools and the microwave in the Rover and drove to the house, where I proceeded to unhook the stove and unhook the dishwasher and cart them out to the trailer. Left the hose attached to the garbage disposal, as I thought it would be easier to just swap the hoses. Then I bought gas in the Land Rover, Milage 94998.8. I then drove to Minster by way of 127, instead of 75, as I didn't want to chance all the construction with all of the appliances in the truck and trailer. I called my brother, who was at my parents, that I was about an hour away. He had already left, so he got to sit at Minster and wait for me for a while. I finally got to Minster, and BJ and I got the stove, dishwasher and microwave into the house and then loaded Dad's Table saw in the trailer with the washer. We then left his truck at the Minster house and drove the Rover to my parents.

Saturday Morning (9/12), BJ and I got an early start and got the saw out of the trailer and put away, then swapped the washers. All I can say is that "Forearm Forklifts" rock. It was so much easier to move stuff with them then with the dolly. After that, we drove back to Minster and got the trailer switched to BJ's truck and then loaded up the stove and dishwasher into the trailer. Then we swapped the microwaves, and put that in my Rover. Shoot, the hoses on the dishwashers are not compatable. Took the hose off for the stainless dishwasher and put that in the truck. I ran to the hardware store and got a pipe to hook up the range correctly. Then we got my flatbed trailer out and after taking doors off the fridge, putting them back on, and taking one back off, got it out of the house and onto the trailer. After putting it back together and strapping it down really well, we got back on the road, BJ pulling the covered trailer and I pulling the flatbed with the fridge. We again took 127 down to our new house. There we put the appliances into the kitchen, and folded up the flatbed and put it into the garage. Then we took the white fridge completely apart (doors off, and shelves out), and put it into the covered trailer. BJ then left for a date (thanks Joni for understanding about him being really, really, really late), and I headed to the apartment to get some more clothes and drop the dog off with Rachel. I then drove up to Minster by I-75. Then the real fun began. I brought the Fridge into the house BY MYSELF :). I only dropped it once ;). After that, I put the doors back on and got the shelves back in it, and then I went to bed. I was a bit tired and quite sore.

Sunday morning (9/13), I was up at 7:30 and got the dishwasher installed, then I got the two circuits that got missed when the electric panel was replaced installed. Then I got the hard pipe exhaust for the dryer out of the basement, and then plugged in the fridge and hooked up the water to it. I then loaded up my yard tools, ladder and other items from the Minster house and drove down to the new house. I unloaded the trailer, and then drove over to the apartment to see the boys and Rachel. Then we loaded the boys up in Rachel's car and she took off for the house, and I loaded the trailer up with stuff from the Apartment garage, and then loaded the Rover up with the network and server equipment. Got over to the house and started by removing the microwave. Hmm, that is hard wired and I don't have the material I need to install the new one. I guess I won't be hooking up the appliances tonight, because the local hardware store closes at 5. Ok, on to the network. Hmm, we have a dialtone in the garage, but the wires were bad coming into the house, so I ran a new line from the garage into the basement. Then I set up the networking equipment. Wired up the house phone lines so they work now. Then I ran two cat5 lines to the living room for the Roku box and the AppleTV. They didn't work the first time. After 4 plugs, I found that I was putting the plugs on upside down (stupid drawing is wrong on the back of the crimper packaging :(). Got that done, then set up the server, and we have internet at the new house. I then drove home and took some empty boxes with me for Rachel to use to pack the kitchen and the living room. Milage on the truck was 95526.2. 527 miles, plus moving/installing appliances, and cables in basically 48 hours. Oh what fun :).

We have friends coming tonight (9/14), and I am hoping to move the living room and hopefully our bed over to the new house. Then we will just start sleeping there. If we don't start sleeping there tonight, then tomorrow night for sure.

Our landlord wants to start showing the apartment to people. I keep telling her it is a wreck as we are packing, but she doesn't want to listen. My goal is to have everything moved out of there by Sunday the 20th. :). If you want to help us move, please let me know.

Working on the Land Rover

As some of you may know, I recently purchased a 1995 Land Rover Discovery. It runs well, but has had a few issues here and there. Right now most of the issues are around the brake system. Like not stopping. :).

Anyways, a few weeks ago, I was up in Minster working on the house with the boys when one of the rear brake lines gave out. It had rusted away to nothing. After making a temporary repair, I was able to drive back home to Cincinnati and then have it fixed that week at a local
garage.

I have had three instances where all of a sudden, the brakes act just like when the line was broke, I.E. The peddle goes to the floor and basically I only have emergency mechanical brakes on the driver's side front wheel. Well, the pads were pretty low to begin with, so I think
these few incidents destroyed my rotor.

While on vacation, I ordered new rotors for the front of the truck, and new pads all around. The parts came the next day after we returned. And after looking closer, I don't believe that I need to change the second rotor. I had a friend who was going to help me, but he was unable to do it for a while. Since I need to drive to my parents this weekend, I basically had to have it fixed, or Rachel would not have a car. So I decided to try to do it myself. One of my co-workers volenteered to help me out, and I am eternally grateful that he did.

We had three moments where we really thought we were done working and would have to wait for the next day. The first was because we had the wrong sized socket for the axle nuts. I rented a 34 and a 36mm from Autozone. Would you believe that the axle nuts on my truck are 72mm big? Do you know who sells a socket that big? Me either, we couldn't find one. We were able to get the nuts off with a set of channel locks.

The second thing that almost killed the evening is that we could not for the life of us get the old rotor unbolted from the wheel hub. After trying many different wrench combinations, and even my air rachet, we were about to give up, when Ron mentioned that he had an impact wrench. After thinking about it for a while, he ran home and got it ( truthfully, I basically begged him ;)). Once we had that the bolts came off with just one giving us any trouble.

The third item that almost made us quit for the night was after the hub was back on the car, the axle nuts tightened and the drive shaft coupler back one. The drive shaft floats a little, and uses spacers and a ring clip to keep the movement to a minimum. We couldn't get the ring clip back on. After a while we were about to give up, as it was after 10 pm and we were pretty tired. I looked at Ron and said "Lets give it one more try.". I didn't think we were going to do it again
when Ron's hand slipped, but somehow, it clipped right in :). After putting the new pads on that wheel, we buttened up everything and called it a night. Tomorrow night I will replace the brake pads on the other three wheels. As I said, I don't think I will need to replace the other rotor. I might, but I don't think so.

Oh, an thanks again to Ron for all his help, he also fixed my rear light that has been acting finicky while I was working on something else :).

I have a bunch of stuff to return to AutoZone tomorrow, including some rental tools. Overall a very interesting learning experiance.

Sensible Gun Law

Saw this at Ohioians for Concealed Carry and just had to post it. Link Here

How is this for a sensible gun law?


Be it enacted, immediately upon the President's signature, all previously enacted federal gun laws are null and void. Be it further enacted that all agents in the employ of the Bureau of Alchohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (henceforth referred to simply as ATF) in a firearms enforcement role shall be offered positions within the expanded Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) under the supervision of the Director for Civilian Marksmanship (DCM).

Inasmuch as violent crime and the threat of terrorism are – and will remain – a clear and present danger in our world, the following sensible gun laws will be henceforth be enacted and enforced:

1. Every able-bodied person, having reached the age of majority, shall have readily available both a long arm (i.e., rifle or shotgun) and a sidearm (i.e., pistol or revolver) and a minimum of fifty (50) rounds of ammunition for each. (With parental/guardian permission, the age of majority requirement may be waived. Further, those who wish may claim Conscientious Objector (CO) status to be waived from the requirement altogether.) A familiarization-fire course shall be completed by each person at least annually under the auspices of the DCM.

2. The Secretary of Defense (SecDef) shall make available to the DCM a complete inventory of all small arms available in the Department of Defense (DoD) that are not currently required for use within the DoD. Any small arms the DCM deems appropriate shall be transferred to the CMP for sale to United States citizens desiring to comply with paragraph 1 above.

3. All state and local firearms laws are considered to be null and void as they are superseded by both the Second Amendment to the Constitution and the right to self-defense which even predates our Constitution. By extension, all Concealed Weapon/Handgun Licenses are rendered moot – citizens are expected and encouraged to carry weapons/firearms.

4. The DCM, with the aid of the newly transferred former ATF agents shall develop and administer a suitable firearms safety and marksmanship training program for implementation in all schools, grades K-12.


What do you think? I think it is brilliant.

Netflix

Rachel and I have been members of Netflix since around Thanksgiving.  We really like it, and are discovering movies that we love, and also the Boys are loving TV shows from when Rachel and I were kids.

I am writing because lately we have had a rash of broken discs.  Has anyone else had this problem?

Out of 84 discs we have had 7 that have been unplayable.  Out of those 7, we have had 6 replaced.  The 7th was a movie I decided I just wasn't that interested in.  Now out of those 7, 4 have been physically broken.  The latest two discs that we got today were both physically broken, one completely in half.

So again I ask for all those Netflix users out there, have you had this problem?

Updates

Lets see, it has been a little while since I posted.

Teddy is here!!!!!!! - pictures at http://photos.johnsoax.com/

- Been really busy at work. Have a bunch of projects going on.

- Rachel's birthday/Easter was fun. We had a baby dedication for Teddy, it didn't go as planned by ended up perfect. Which reminds me, I need to email Tom at CCM.

- Tax day sucked, we ended up owing Federal, State, local and school :(. Stupid 401k cashing in. Of course, if I didn't cash it in last January, I am pretty sure the balance would be about the same as it is now, 0. :).

- My birthday went pretty well. Didn't get much in the way of gifts, but I really don't need anything. But I got lots of hugs, and visits, and that is what is important.

- Still selling the house. Hopefully we can get rid of it soon. Really working on it in the next few weekends. I was up there this past weekend, and took a trailer load to goodwill, and oopps, I think I left the stuff in it that Goodwill wouldn't take. Sent Dad a txt asking him if I did that.

- It's been raining quite a bit down here. Makes the apartment grass really grow. I have to mow twice a week down here. Crazy.

- I was elected as National Secretary for Sigma Theta Epsilon. My term runs 2009-2011. I was Treasurer/Financial Director for 5 years before that. I need to finish up the Treasurer stuff and get that info to the new Treasurer. Fiscal year ends May 31st.

- Been upgrading my carry bag and my edc stuff. Pictures to follow once my new knife comes in.

- Looking forward to my cousin Phil's wedding this weekend (my cousin Judy's son). Can't believe he is getting married. When he was little, he used to drive my cousins and I nuts by breaking stuff and messing up games we were playing. And look at the man he grew up to be. A Marine. Proud of you Phil.

Alex

I did it.

Today I ran a very important errand.  I applied for my Ohio Concealed Carry License.  I also started the process for my Florida license.  I want to give a shout out to the people at the Hamiton County Sheriff’s office.  They were courteous, knowledgeable and quite efficient.  Two co-workers also went with me, and all three of us were through the process in about 25 minutes.

 

We will see how I feel about how long I have to wait though, some of the talk sounds like it may take a while.

 

But I am taking steps to help better protect my family.  What are you doing for yours?

 

 

Birthday List - UPDATED

My birthday is coming up soon, and I have been asked for some ideas for what I want. I will try to think of some other things and update the list.

Media

Album - On a Clear Night - Missy Higgins (CD or iTunes)

Album - Jeremy Camp - Live Unplugged

Album - Jeremy Camp - Speaking Louder than before

Song - Toxic - A Static Lullaby (iTunes)

Song - Over My Head - A Day to Remember (iTunes)

Song - Apologize – Silverstein (iTunes)

DVD – Quantum of Solace

DVD - HOUSE Seasons 1,3 or 4

Other

Gift Cert to iTunes

Gift cert to eReader.com or fictionwise.com (to get ebooks)

(email for gift is ereader at johnsoax.com)

Stays for my Dress Shirts (Like these - http://www.amazon.com/Stayclip-Brushed-Steel-Collar-Stays/dp/B000W9567G/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qid=1237902042&sr=8-2)

Some way to generate electricity for free or cheap, (disposable nuclear reactor or "Mr. Fusion")

Buyer for my house

New house (I can dream, right?)

More American's need to read this document again

 

 

Especially the list of reasons our Fore Father's wrote for breaking away from England.

 

The Declaration of Independence

 

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

 

 

 

Pay close attention to this part of the first paragraph (Thanks Tyler, for reminding me of this today):

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

 

Have we come to this point in history again?

 

 

Last night

This is a running commentary of what happened last night with Rachel's flight back from an ADX convention in California. Last year, we all went and got stranded in Cleveland overnight. Two years ago, Rachel got delayed for 14 hours and Ricky and I ended up spending the night in a hotel in Columbus. And now to the story, written as it happened :)

02/22/09 - 21:46
As I write this, the boys and I are sitting at Subway, inside Walmart in Dayton, just south of I-70. Rachel got on a plane in Chicago at 8. I started to load up the boys then, and we headed out around 8:05. Rachel called me at 8:30 to tell me that the plane she was on was having "mechanical difficulty" with the door. They found this out after everyone was loaded..... even though the Rachel watched the last four flights have the exact same problem. So I decided that we would just head to Dayton anyways, and kill time at Walmart. I didn't want to waste the gas to drive back home, then back up. The only problem is that if we end up having to spend the night in a hotel, I am not prepared, and I am mad at myself for that. Rachel did text me to tell me that they were switching planes. So now we are eating Apples and cookies........waiting. More as the drama unfolds.

02/22/09 - 22:06
Rachel just let us know that she is on the new plane. I expect a call any second that something is wrong with this plane, or the fact that it is currently snowing in Dayton will cause a problem. Boy am I a pessimist when it comes to airplanes.
(Not safety wise, but as in getting people to where they say when they say they will).

2/22/09 23:00
Still at Walmart. looked at just about everything. I am now letting Ricky randomly say a direction, and we walk that way. It is actually kinda fun, mainly because of how much fun he is having doing it. These kids are going to crash when we finally get Rachel.

2/22/09 23:16
Rachel has landed!!! We are heading to get her.

2/22/09 23:56
Got her. Much "Hi Mommy" from the boys :).

2/23/09 00:55
At the apartment. Both boys are asleep and we need to unload.

2/23/09 1:09
Home and unpacked. Ricky is asleep, and Rachel is cuddling with Wes.

Just once, I wish that we would get home from ADX convention on the same day that travel is started. But I guess it is a plus that we are spending the night at home.

Update

I know, it has been a while since I posted here.  I have started using twitter for little updates.  Maybe I will figure out how to combine this blog, twitter, and facebook so I can update one thing or the other and everything will get updated.

 

Rachel and the baby (tentatively named Teddy) are doing great.  The baby has really been kicking hard lately, and its fun getting beaten up in the morning.  Rachel heads to California on Thursday for her sorority national meeting.  So I besides Friday, when a friend is going to watch the boys so I can go to work, I have the boys all to myself for the weekend.

 

Rachel's sister-in-law was in the hospital.  I am still confused about what all was involved, we need to call them to see how she is doing.  Put in a prayer for her and her family if you get a chance.

 

I got Rachel a Macbook air (refurbished) for Valentines day.  It was less than half price, with free shipping.  It’s a sharp little computer, and I think that it will be a little better then the 12" Powerbook that she had.  I am going to convert that into a picture frame sometime in the future, you know, when I get some spare time.

 

Got the server updated to Mac OS 10.5, and iLife 09 (well, just iPhoto).  The new faces aspect is pretty cool, it was fun confirming which kid was which last night and seeing all the different pictures of Ricky and Wesley from over the years.

 

House is still for sale.  Had a followup visit from the visit in early January (the son this time, whose house it was to be).  I haven't heard anything.  Going to call him this week to see if he is interested.

 

Work is going well.  Pretty busy on a few different projects that are all pretty high priority.

 

Besides that, we are pretty busy, getting ready for the baby, taking care of our two sons, and our respective Fraternity/Sorority national meetings coming up.

 

Till next time…..

 

Snow, snow, snow

As many of you know, we are getting hammered by snow here in Cincinnati. I posted a few pictures and a video on our photos page (http://photos.johnsoax.com/).

Thankfully I didn't clean the car off last night, so we have a layer of ice on top of a layer of snow, with a layer of snow over that. So I can easily break the ice off, instead of having to chip it off the car itself. It would have really been cool if the ice would have fallen just right to go all the way to the ground on both sides of the car. That way, I could have maybe figured out how to get in the car and drive out of the ice covering it, leaving a free standing ice car :).

Snow & House update.

Snow has finally come to Cincy. It's about time that it came. Cold weather is just no fun without the fluffy white stuff. So tonight I will be repacking my daily bag with snow gear. What ever gets dumped on us, I will make sure I can get home to my family :). It just may take me a while to walk there. I already carry a GPS in my bag, but will add an emergency lantern and have my snow boots handy. I just hope that my hiking pole is at the apartment, and not at the house.

I love winter and cold weather (really, I am not being sarcastic).


Speaking of the house, I went up the 16th to check on it, and to hopefully get some more of the floor done. When I got up there on the 16th, it was -22 degrees F (-30 C, for our metric friends :)). Air temperature, not counting wind chill. Moisture in the car was freezing to the inside of the windows. I had the heat set at 68 inside the car, so it was 90 degrees colder outside then inside. Thankfully, the house was just fine. Not even a frozen pipe, much less a burst one. We even had another couple go through on the 17th. They seemed genuinely interested, so hopefully they will want to go through again next time I am up there. I couldn't work on the floor because at 19 degrees the on the 17th, it was still too cold to get out the saws and be going into and out of the house all day, so I headed home to Rachel and the boys a day early. And of course, got a call about someone wanting to look at the house on the 18th. But he said that he can wait till I am up there again. It will be the second time for this guy (well first for him, but his dad and uncle went through a few weeks ago).

Well, more info to follow later. Need to do a write up of this last weekend too.

What a weekend!

Friday night Rachel and I met my parents at exit 99 on I-75 and had dinner, then switched cars, with my parents taking our car and the boys to their house, and Rachel and I taking their car to our Minster house. Rachel and I worked on the House for about an hour before the guys showed up to look at the house at 8:50 PM. They walked through and said they may be interested. So hopefully something comes of that. We finished up rearrainging things and stopped by the neighbors to say hi, then headed back to my parents house, arriving around 11:45PM.

Saturday, Dad, my brother BJ and I met my brother-in-law in Lima and went to the fair grounds to a show. We were able to sell one of the two items that we brought, and I was able to pick up the parts I needed :).

I left from the show straight back to Minster for the second showing at 1:00. The young couple (late 20's) had brought both of her parents, and his dad. They walked through the house, and asked a few questions, but I got the feeling that this just wasn't the house they were looking for. I will probably call them in a few weeks, and see if they are still interested, but who knows.

After the showing, my brother showed up and I helped him load one of the old TV's into his car. Then I headed back to my parents.

We used Netflix instant to watch National Treasure 2, which we had already seen, but my parents hadn't. It was an enjoyable evening.

Sunday morning, we got up, got the car loaded and headed out. The plan was for all of us to drive to Cincy and attend church with my grandparents, and then head to their house for Christmas. Grandpa was sick at Christmas, so we had to postpone till now. Well, Rachel and I had Chloe (our dog) with us, so we left early to swing by our apartment to drop off the dog and other bags. My parents would head down about 45 minutes later. Ahh, the Plan.

Right after we past 275 heading south on I-75, my phone rings. My parents car has broken down on the highway near exit 74. So I drop off my wife and kids, and unload the car at the apartment, and head back north. By the time I got up there, the tow truck had come and taken my parents to a Bob Evans just south of where they had broken down. I picked my parents up and dropped them off at the Dayton airport so they could get a rental car, and then headed back down to pick up Rachel and the boys. We ended up having a good visit with Grandma and Grandpa anyways.

Ahh, what a weekend :).

House Call 2

I can hardly believe this. We got another call about the house!!! Showing it late tomorrow night. The gentlemen I talked to won't be in town over the weekend, so we will have to show it while we are there cleaning it.