blog.johnsoax.com

Independence day!!

2011-07-02T12:01:00.001-04:00

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever."
--John Adams letter to his wife, Abigail, on July 3, 1776.

HT - http://www.leadandfermentation.com/2011/07/independence-is-declared.html

Answered Prayers, or how the good guy finished first.

2011-06-23T19:03:00.003-04:00

On our way to small group tonight, I was going about 5 over the speed limit when we get passed by a woman like we are standing still, cutting us off. With all the other stuff going on in our life, such as our house stuff, I am fed up with being the good guy. I looked up to heaven and cried out "Why Lord!!!, why do good guys always finish last? Where are the police when these people drive like idiots. If I drove like that, I would get pulled over instantly. "

As we come over a hill, I see a cop come up to the street from a neighboring industrial park. Rachel looks at me and says "Honey, there is the cop". He pulls out behind the woman, and we come up behind both of them at the next stop light. As we all turn right, he lights her up. Rachel and I look at each other and grin. I again look up to heaven and say "Thanks God!". Some times prayers get answered instantly!!!

I am a good guy by choice. My parents raised me right. And it's a good thing...

I would make a fantastic villain.................

Up most of the night finishing.....

2011-04-27T10:19:00.007-04:00

the third book by one of my favorite authors. Hard Magic: Book 1 of the Grimnoir Chronicles by Larry Correia. After having read Monster Hunter International, and Monster Hunter Vendetta, I couldn't wait to dig into the newest book. Compared to the monster filled world created in the Monster Hunter series, the Grimnoir series is much closer to our own. This series takes place in the 1920-30's, but twists the world we know by adding a magical element to history. I love the quotes at the beginning of each chapter that share either a small bit of back-story, or add magic to some piece of history (like Einstein, Abe Lincoln, and the like). My only beef is that the main character is always a 300+ lbs giant of a man. Where is the 5'7" 175 lb hero? ;) Can't wait for the next book in either series.

Oh, and all of these books are available for around $6 each at Baen publishing.
Hard Magic: Book 1 of the Grimnoir Chronicles

Free prequel story Here

At least I retrieved a lost birthday present yesterday to find the first three graphic novels of The Walking Dead to tide me over...

More to come.

Gas Prices and Public Transportation

2011-04-12T13:09:00.003-04:00

Cincinnati Metro is claiming that they are getting more ridership as gas prices go up. Good for them. I'm not one of them.

Some of you may know that I rode the bus for a year when we moved back down to Cincy. I got on in Norwood, and rode the 51 straight to my building at UC. Total time was about 35-40 minutes (including walk). Otherwise, it would take me 20 minutes to drive, and another 5-10 to walk from where ever I could find a parking spot on the street. And when I first started, it was free to ride the bus. Really a no brainer on my part. When we first got here, I didn't even have a car. I did purchase my Land Rover about 9 months after we got here. And the deal UC had with Metro fell apart enough that it isn't even worth getting the rider card anymore. Basically the same price as a normal monthly pass.

When we moved to the Finneytown area I investigated riding the bus again as it is such a pain to park, and it is fun to be able to watch a TV show or read during the commute. But I found that it would now take about an hour each way for the ride. And 20 minutes of that would be standing at a stop waiting on my connecting bus to take me downtown and then back up to UC. Just looking at the time, it doesn't look like a very good idea. But what do the numbers say?

Lets look at costs, both time and money:

By bus:

Using the "Trip Planner" from Metro's website, the fastest trip to get me to work in the morning will take 51 minutes at a cost of $3.15 for a cash rider. I would need to be at the bus stop by 7:10 at the latest. 17 minutes for the first leg, then a 23 minute wait at a stop, and then a 12 minute ride from there. That doesn't count the 10 minutes it will take me to walk from my house to the stop, nor the 10 minutes to walk from the stop on the wrong side of MLK to my office. So that is 71 minutes at a cost of $3.15 to get to work.

Coming home its even worse. I work roughly 8-5 or 8:15 to 5:15. The bus leaves to go home at 4:48 or 4:51 depending on the route I take. This gets me to the bus stop near home at around 6. The next bus isn't till 5:30. And I wouldn't get home till 6:30 with this bus. This is also a cost of $3.15

So best case, I am looking at 2.4 hours, and $6.30 to ride the bus. Every day.

By vehicle:

I drive a 1995 Land Rover Discovery. It is a gas guzzeling hog of a vehicle that takes premium. I love it ;).

I leave for work around 7:30 in the morning, and depending if I swing through MCD's or not, I am parking on the steet at work around 7:50-8:00. I then walk 5-10 minutes from my truck to the office to get in between 8 and 8:15. On the way home, I leave the office around 5:15, walk 5-10 minutes, get to the Rover, and am home between 5:45 and 6 depending on traffic. So its 25-35 minutes each way. The Rover gets an average of 12.3 MPG, and my commute is roughly 8 miles each way, so 1.3 gallons a day. This morning gas was at 3.92 a gallon for premium (note, this was written on 04/07), so lets say $5.1 a day for fuel (my average according to my log is $4.93 for fuel). (If I count maintenance and the purchase price of the vehicle into the calculation, I am looking at an additional $6.79/ day.)

So if I drive, I am looking at 1.2 hours, and $5.10 every day.

Some other notes before we compare these two figures. The bus puts a rigid schedule on my trips. As an engineer, my schedule isn't rigid and sometimes I stay late to finish something, or get stuck in the field investigating and can't leave till later. So on those days, I could end up waiting at the office for a later bus. I sometimes run errands after work picking up groceries. In Norwood, it was simple to walk from the grocery store home, in Finneytown, not so much. The biggest thing to note, and why I don't count traffic times really, is that the bus and my car will travel on roughly the same streets, so any traffic jam that would disrupt my driving commute would also disrupt my bus commute.

So lets compare the numbers. Everything will be converted to $$ assuming I earn $10/hour (Time with my kids is worth considerably more, but it makes calcs easy).

Bus: 2.4 hours($24) and $6.30= $30.3
Car: 1.2 hours($12) and $5.1= $17.1

As you can see, at the current price of gas, with a lousy MPG car, it makes absolutely no sense for me to ride the bus.

Even if I include the maintenance and purchase price of my vehicle ($0.334/mile) it is

Bus: $30.3
Car: $22.44

Gas needs to climb to $14.08 a gallon (or $8.85 a gallon with everything included) to just break even… And that is only valuing my time at $10 an hour, as I mentioned before, my time with my sons is worth much more than that.

So, how does riding the bus for anyone who lives near me and works at UC make any sense at all???

If Metro changes routes in my area, I will look again, but most people I talk to who work at UC (largest employer in Cincy, plus 35k students) don't want to ride downtown to then ride a bus back to UC.

Updates & Upcoming Projects

2011-03-30T13:51:00.000-04:00

Updates on us since I haven't posted in a while.

We sold the house!!!!!!

The house sold on Feb 11th, after we had it scheduled to close on the 15th. The buyers asked to move it up. Worked out great.

We've finally replaced our cell phones and got IPhones from Verizon. Not looking forward to the first bill after getting data.

We celebrate Teddy's 2nd birthday this weekend. Hard to believe he is that old. And huge!!

Winter is finally ending!! (Well maybe, it is snowing as I type this.)

This means that I can start working on some projects around the house.

Here is the list of projects I would like to get done this summer/year:
- New Garage door
(deposit down on this, and will be done by Dan the Doorman)
- Refurbish and paint the lockers to move to entry way.
Each of us will get a locker, plus there will be a guest locker. And there will Be hooks on the end to have more guest/misc hanging.
- Possible replacement of front low roof.
I made a repair that seems to be holding. We may just keep an eye on this this year with the plan to replace the entire roof next year.
- Camper/Trailer
We are looking at a camper this weekend from a co-worker for a good deal. I may still at least get the trailer base from Dad to look at building my own camping gear/roof top tent trailer. If we don't get the camper, I will probably build the trailer from Compact Camping Concepts. (http://www.compactcampingconcepts.com/)
- General Rover work
- Wheel Bearings. At $240, this would be cheap insurance to make sure I have good wheel bearings.
- Figure out the electrical/alarm system issue that I have
- Change transmission fluid/filter.
- Fix the small exhaust leak under Driver's seat.
- Replace door between garage and house
- Replace front door on the house.
- Paint existing shutters
- Front flowerbed work
- Rear yard landscaping
- watching craigslist for a free hot tub.

More later. As always, pictures are at photos.johnsoax.com

Alex Johnson
Sent from handheld

Craigslist Ads

2010-11-29T23:04:00.002-05:00

Macbook Air - Damaged

19" Data Rack

LitterMaid Litter Box

Today's Links

2010-11-03T12:01:00.003-04:00

The really big story is not only what happened to the US House, but also to the state legislative houses as well.

Affordable Home Security?
By my dad

Where the REAL action is, the NC General Assembly?

Oh Wisconsin? That Shall Issue law we were talking about?

Promise Kept

Meet the Electorate

What does this recent election mean for gun rights?

Reasons for Optimism

A morning after post

Rhode Island Still Has Its Plantations

Breaking!!! Cantor to contest Boehner for Majority Leader

low Volts, Falling Leafs

Turning statehouses Red – Updated

Take Your Olive Branch and Shove It, Democrats

Califorlornia

It’s Official: The Government Isn’t Getting its Money Back Out of GM

Brilliant Thoughts From Post Tsunami

Reverse Peristalsis: What it Means

Edited to Add

Republicans pick up a lot of state legislatures

Why We’ll Win

2010: the whiplash election

Fight the Meme

Today's Links

2010-11-02T12:47:00.002-04:00

Today is election day in the US.

I voted this morning. Did you? If you haven't researched, please don't.

5 popular safety measures that don’t make you any safer.

Election Day

A Halloween Public Service Announcement from Monster Hunter International

The Mind of America

When the Law Gives you Lemons

Turning Away

IP is book burning

Tsunami: Could be 100 House Seats

R.I.P, G.O.P

Pay no attention to the communists behind the curtain

When the democratic party left you behind.

Campfire Cuisine: Homemade Biscuit mix

Repeal the Hughes Amendment

The death of Camelot

The New Math

Remember the 111th.

Obama’s Katrina - Hurricane Rahm

Clarity

POTUS/TOTUS pity party alert: Post-election press conference tomorrow

Left Blacklists Breitbart, ABC Caves.

Today's (and yesterday's) Links

2010-10-28T09:45:00.003-04:00

I was out of the office for training yesterday, so these links are from yesterday and today.

Bitches, Choice, and Psychological Projection

Impertinent Questions: How Much Stimulus Do We Need?

Wealthy or Productive?

Disaster is not left to chance

Getting’ my Wookie on…

The High Cost of Free Healthcare

The Left’s voter fraud whitewash

9th Circuit has a problem with Arizona’s proof of citizenship for voter registration policy

Punish Your Enemies

10/27/10 Dilbert

Bank of America = Bank of Democrat America?

Edited to add

An Open Letter to Rush Limbaugh and his listeners
A letter from the editor in chief of hillbuzz.org. Good read.

The Democrats’ Final Recourse: Massive Vote Fraud

Today's Links

2010-10-26T10:48:00.003-04:00

I make a list of articles for some guys at work everyday. I might as well start posting it here too.

When Editors Fall Asleep
Here is a funny one. We’re probably going to need it with the other links today.

Obama Calls Republicans “Enemies”

Friedman tries-but he’s still an idiot

Taking a Failed Senator to Task

Delta Operators
Funny

That’s about Right
Funny

White Elephant Present Swap Coming Up

AlLies

For Democrats, Math is Hard. So is the Truth

Yes, we have inflation

The Curse of the Welfare State

At the End of the Liberal Dynasty

Breaking: Ethics Foundation Requests A.G. Holder Investigate Sen. Boxer

Thanksgiving Comes First

Common Sense Gun Laws

So what happens after the election?
Very much recommended. This is pretty close to my beliefs about politics as well. Vote them out. All of them.

Fine. Straight R’s it is

We’d Better Win Big

Edited to add:

Wedgies built FORD tough

Since when does city hall get involved in micro managing the content of billboard ads?

What a week - And it is only half over

2010-10-05T21:40:00.004-04:00

This has been one heck of a week so far, and it is only half over.

Rachel went to a reenactment over the weekend, so I watched all three boys by myself. Friday, I took the boys to the park, then we watched Veggietales till bedtime. Saturday was fun, but busy. We went to Dunkin Donuts, then the UC surplus sale, then the zoo, then to a birthday party, then to McDonald's as it had started raining, and I let them run around in the PlayLand. We finished off the day watching IronMan 2.

Rachel came home late Saturday night due to weather issues. So Sunday we decided to do a few things that we wouldn't have otherwise been able to do. But the day started off with Teddy throwing a remote at Rachel's laptop and shattering the screen.

Rachel got to go to a Baby shower for two friends, one living in town, and one living out of town. Unfortunately as we were leaving that party to head to the next, I backed into a mailbox, scratching the entire driver's side of the Pacifica :(.

After that we went to a birthday/football party at our friends new home. We didn't get to stay long due to the boys behavior, but at least we finally got to see their gorgeous new home.

When we came home, it was cold in the house. I had the furnace set to "emergency" heat, which is how we bypass the heat pump and use the gas. (Long story, but our heat pump is 20+ years old, and I just prefer the heat from gas). The thermostat said that the heat was on, but the furnace wasn't running. After tearing into it, I found the inducer motor to be really, really, really hot!!!! and buzzing, so I figured that was messed up. I scheduled an appointment for Tuesday afternoon to have an HVAC company look it over, but was hopeful that it would be an easy fix. Flipped over to the heat pump for heat, and have been relatively happy with it for a few days.

That brings us to Monday. It started out great. Cupcakes at work, started reading the new Monster Hunter novel (see last post), and then I got a phone call from Rachel that Ricky had been bad at school and that they were sending him home early. Since I had the HVAC appointment on Tuesday, I was working late, and by the time I got home from work, Rachel had put the boys to bed.

This morning started out ok. Picked up MCD's for breakfast due to Monopoly, and that I was skipping lunch to make up more time for the HVAC appointment. At lunch Rachel informed me that we didn't get a rent check from our Minster Renter (late charges start on 6th), so I sent him an email. Got the response that they had mailed it yesterday, and then he dropped a bomb. They had been telling me that they were going to go month to month, but now he informed me they were moving out at the end of their lease. So we have two more checks coming from them (counting this month), and then they are done. So that is a huge stress as we really can't afford to carry that loan without a renter. So we dropped the price on the house again, and are hopeful that something will show up in the next 60 days. We now have it listed for less than we purchased it for 4 years ago, not counting all the work we have done to it.

So at 2:30, I headed home as my appointment was the whole "Arrive between 3-5PM" thing. I got home at 3, and played with the boys some. At 4:45 (seriously) I get a phone call that the technician is 20-25 minutes away, and will be there as soon as he can. But just after 5, he shows up, and I show him the issues. He has me run the unit in a variety of different ways, and he verify's that the induction fan is bad, and buttons everything up. As he is gathering his tools, I point to water running out of the bottom of the unit with a "Hey, it has never done that before". So we tear back into it and find water in the heat exchanger, and running out the bottom. He informs me that this means my heat exchanger is cracked and that he is really sorry, but it will have to be replaced, and it is not cheap. He also says that he can't just replace the induction fan now as it could be a CO issue, but tells me that I can run on the heat pump till I make a decision. He buttons everything back up, and we head up. After looking at my Heat pump outside, he sits in his truck for a while, and finally comes back to tell me the damage. ~$5k for a 95% unit installed (furnace only). Yikes!!! But wait, with that unit I qualify for all of these rebates and tax credits!!!! So it is only ~3.5k after that!!. I tell him I will think about it and pay the service call.

I called my parents, and dad told me he can get me a pretty decent unit for ~1.5k, but I will have to install it myself. That sounds much better to me. Going to see if I can get something else from a guy at work, but that looks like my best bet. And since it is the 95% unit, I still qualify for the ~1.5k rebates, so I might get it for FREE ;).

Anyways, thanks for reading this far. Can't wait to see what the rest of this week has in store for us.

MHV!!!

2010-10-04T13:27:00.002-04:00

Just finished chapter 1 of Monster Hunter Vendetta at lunch today. Off to a great start!! Can't wait to keep reading.

Parable of the Sheep

2010-07-27T15:33:00.001-04:00

Found this online today, and thought I would share:

Author has given permission to copy and share.

Parable of the Sheep

By Charles Riggs

Not so long ago and in a pasture too uncomfortably close to here, a flock of sheep lived and grazed. They were protected by a dog, who answered to the master, but despite his best efforts from time to time a nearby pack of wolves would prey upon the flock.

One day a group of sheep, more bold than the rest, met to discuss their dilemma. "Our dog is good, and vigilant, but he is one dog and the wolves are many. The wolves he catches are not always killed, and the master judges and releases many to prey again upon us, for no reason we can understand. What can we do? We are sheep, but we do not wish to be food, too!"

One sheep spoke up, saying "It is his teeth and claws that make the wolf so terrible to us. It is his nature to prey, and he would find any way to do it, but it is the tools he wields that make it possible. If we had such teeth, we could fight back, and stop this savagery." The other sheep clamored in agreement, and they went together to the old bones of the dead wolves heaped in the corner of the pasture, and gathered fang and claw and made them into weapons.

That night, when the wolves came, the newly armed sheep sprang up with their weapons and struck at them and cried "Begone! We are not food!" and drove off the wolves, who were astonished. When did sheep become so bold and so dangerous to wolves? When did sheep grow teeth? It was unthinkable!

The next day, flush with victory and waving their weapons, they approached the flock to pronounce their discovery. But as they drew nigh, the flock huddled together and cried out "Baaaaaaaadddd! Baaaaaddd things! You have bad things! We are afraid! You are not sheep!"

The brave sheep stopped, amazed. "But we are your brethren!" they cried, "We are still sheep, but we do not wish to be food. See, our new teeth and claws protect us and have saved us from slaughter. They do not make us into wolves, they make us equal to the wolves, and safe from their viciousness!"

"Baaaaaaaddd!", cried the flock,"the things are bad and will pervert you, and we fear them. You cannot bring them into the flock. They scare us!". So the armed sheep resolved to conceal their weapons, for although they had no desire to panic the flock, they wished to remain in the fold. But they would not return to those nights of terror, waiting for the wolves to come.

In time, the wolves attacked less often and sought easier prey, for they had no stomach for fighting sheep who possessed tooth and claw even as they did. Not knowing which sheep had fangs and which did not, they came to leave sheep out of their diet almost completely except for the occasional raid, from which more than one wolf did not return. Then came the day when, as the flock grazed beside the stream, one sheep's weapon slipped from the folds of her fleece, and the flock cried out in terror again, "Baaaaaaddddd! You still possess these evil things! We must ban you from our presence!".

And so they did. The great chief sheep and his court and council, encouraged by the words of their moneylenders and advisors, placed signs and totems at the edges of the pasture forbidding the presence of hidden weapons there. The armed sheep protested before the council, saying "It is our pasture, too, and we have never harmed you! When can you say we have caused you hurt? It is the wolves, not we, who prey upon you. We are still sheep, but we are not food!". But the flock would not hear, and drowned them out with cries of "Baaaaaaddd! We will not hear your clever words! You and your things are evil and will harm us!".

Saddened by this rejection, the armed sheep moved off and spent their days on the edges of the flock, trying from time to time to speak with their brethren to convince them of the wisdom of having such teeth, but meeting with little success. They found it hard to talk to those who, upon hearing their words, would roll back their eyes and flee, crying "Baaaaddd! Bad things!".

That night, the wolves happened upon the sheep's totems and signs, and said, "Truly, these sheep are fools! They have told us they have no teeth! Brothers, let us feed!". And they set upon the flock, and horrible was the carnage in the midst of the fold. The dog fought like a demon, and often seemed to be in two places at once, but even he could not halt the slaughter. It was only when the other sheep arrived with their weapons that the wolves fled, vowing to each other to remain on the edge of the pasture and wait for the next time they could prey, for if the sheep were so foolish once, they would be so again. This they did, and do still.

In the morning, the armed sheep spoke to the flock, and said, "See? If the wolves know you have no teeth, they will fall upon you. Why be prey? To be a sheep does not mean to be food for wolves!". But the flock cried out, more feebly for their voices were fewer, though with no less terror, "Baaaaaaaadddd! These things are bad! If they were banished, the wolves would not harm us! Baaaaaaaddd!". The other sheep could only hang their heads and sigh. The flock had forgotten that even they possessed teeth; how else could they graze the grasses of the pasture? It was only those who preyed, like the wolves and jackals, who turned their teeth to evil ends. If you pulled their own fangs those beasts would take another's teeth and claws, perhaps even the broad flat teeth of sheep, and turn them to evil purposes.

The bold sheep knew that the fangs and claws they possessed had not changed them. They still grazed like other sheep, and raised their lambs in the spring, and greeted their friend the dog as he walked among them. But they could not quell the terror of the flock, which rose in them like some ancient dark smoky spirit and could not be damped by reason, nor dispelled by the light of day.

So they resolved to retain their weapons, but to conceal them from the flock; to endure their fear and loathing, and even to protect their brethren if the need arose, until the day the flock learned to understand that as long as there were wolves in the night, sheep would need teeth to repel them.

They would still be sheep, but they would not be food!

© 1997 Charles Riggs

What a day!!!

2010-07-16T00:18:00.002-04:00

Today was interesting. Everything was pretty normal today till it was time to go home from work. I got out to my Rover and noticed that my keyless entry wasn't working. So I put the key in the door and it only unlocked that door. Uh oh, I don't think it is a problem with the remote. Then I notice through the door that the headlight switch is on. I didn't use my headlights this morning. I must have bumped it this morning.

Well here I am, at the side of the road in the Heights, with traffic wizzing by. The hood is up on the Rover and I have a pair of jumper cables hanging over the fender of the truck, hopefully conveying to someone that I could use a hand.

I had called a few co-workers, but they were all too far away to ask to come back to help. I was just about to call the UC Police to see if they would come give me a jump when a pickup pulled up and started trying to parallel park into a spot that I thought was too small for it. I decided to wait till he gave up and then ask him to jump my truck in exchange for the parking spot. As I was waiting, a small green wagon pulls up next to the Rover real close and stopped. I had noticed this exact car pull out of the parking lot across the street. The couple had come completely around the block to come back to give me a hand (and this is quite a big block). We had a bit of a scare when we noticed that my battery was on the passenger side of the Rover (against the curb) and his battery was on the driver's side of his car (towards the middle of the road), but my jumper cables were just long enough to reach.

I unlocked the passenger door to get into the Rover to start it. And of course the alarm started going off. So I had to use the remote to turn off the alarm and then the Rover started right up. I unhooked my side of the jumper cables and started cleaning up, thanking the couple all along for the kindness. He explained a bit that he had had a few people help him over the years and it was time to pay it forward. Then he and his wife were gone. I sat there for a few minutes to let the Rover idle for a bit (wouldn't it suck if I had stalled right then?), and praised God for sending people to help.

My plan for the evening had been to drive straight to Colerain Ave and hit up Walmart, Target, Lowes, Home Depot and Sears to look for pricing on a new dehumidifier for the Minster house (house is going up for sale again soon, interested?). The renters had sent me an email telling me that the one I had left in the basement had quick working the previous Tuesday. Instead, I drove home and changed clothes as it was over 90 degrees, and hot. I stopped at home, changed and said goodnight to the boys, as I figured they would be in bed by the time I got home. After going to Walmart, Home Depot and Target, I was not holding out much hope for finding one that would drain for a decent price. And they were all over $100 :(. I went to Sears and they had what I was looking for for 35 less than HD, so I just decided to buy it. Rachel is going to drop it off with Mom tomorrow (who is down here working on some stuff), and she will drop it off when she heads home this weekend.

After that I swung by Borders to just browse some books, as I have run out of Star Wars books. I just finished Millenium Falcon, and I have to say, it was a great book. While at Borders, I saw that they sell the Sony Reader Touch for $169. Wow!!! That's $10 more then half the price of last year at this time. If we weren't so far in debt with the two mortgages and all (plus I had just spent that amount of money on a stupid dehumidifier), I would seriously think about picking one up. I love my Sony Reader PRS-505.

This weekend is going to be exciting too. I am finally going to activate my library card, then possibly head to Loveland to pick up some furniture (if Rachel decides she wants any of my Grandparents stuff). Then Sunday is the Cincinnati British car show in Fairfield. We are considering going, and maybe entering the Rover, just for fun :). We could win worst wreck or something. :).

Well, better get to sleep, as I see I is already Friday, and I started typing this on Thursday!!

Today

2010-06-24T15:41:00.002-04:00

9 years ago today, it was hot, and I mean HOT outside.

I was standing in a shed in a tuxedo with my great uncle and my best friend Andy. Waiting........

For Her.

She looked amazing!!!!!!

Happy 9th anniversary my Love. It feels like yesterday that we walked down that aisle.

Yikes. Very quiet lately

2010-06-17T16:28:00.002-04:00

Sorry about no posts for a while. We are still hanging on. Haven't sold the Minster house yet, but will probably be putting it back up for sale soon. Hoping to see if the renters are interested again. Need to send them an email.

I have added a widget at the side to show blog posts that I have enjoyed reading. I used to post a link to each of them to Twitter. Twitter automatically updates to my Facebook page. Some friends (Yes I am looking at you Sara ;)) didn't care for it, and Facebook actually treated me like a spammer the other day, so I decided I needed to change how I was doing this. So I am using a Google Reader Share page to handle it now. I will still post the occasional link to Twitter/Facebook if it was just amazing (Like the post to the Pioneer Woman's coffee cake that I just posted...Drool).

Well, back to work.

Interesting History Lesson

2010-03-31T09:37:00.003-04:00

I was walking from where I parked today into work. There was an older gentleman with a cane behind me. As I was passing a breese way, he called out to me: "Young Man, do you have a moment?". I stopped and turned around and started back towards him. Then he said "I bet you walked past this every day and thought it was brick. What is this?" "It looks like wood", I replied. "You're right, this is an original wooden sewer from the 1800's." Then he said, "Make sure you share it with someone else." "I will", I replied. I reached for my camera, and took this picture. When I looked up, the man was gone.

What does the 2nd amendment mean?

2010-03-12T14:49:00.005-05:00

In honor of the current Supreme Court case, I thought I would post a few things I found on the internet about the words found in the 2nd Amendment.

(Found in the comments here - http://twowheeledmadwoman.blogspot.com/2010/03/regulate-means-facilitate.html)

“One problem with the English language is that words change over time. For example, the word “gay” has had two major shifts in my lifetime. The 2nd Amendment was written in the language of the day and it often requires going back to the definitions in one of first issues of the Oxford English Dictionary to understand what was said."Regulated" is one of those words that has changed dramatically from the time that the Bill of Rights was adopted. One archaic definition of “regulated” is smooth or practiced; a ballerina's movements might be called well regulated. It takes training and practice to correctly load and accurately fire a muzzle loading rifle. I maintain the correct definition of “Well-Regulated” is proficient rather than subject to bureaucratic whim & fancy. People of the day despised bureaucrats, regarded them as little more than thieves and it would be ludicrous to imagine that after throwing out one tyranny, they would set up another.“Militia” is another word that's largely dropped out of common usage. In its' most common form, the term "militia" was that group of people able to defend the community. In past times, the people who show up to help assist at disasters would be called militia rather than volunteers. I'm no constitutional lawyer but I'm guessing that if the 2nd Amendment were translated into contemporary vernacular, it might read something like this; "Since a proficient population of shooters is needed to defend a free state, the government shall not make any laws which abridge the rights of law abiding citizens to keep, transport and use arms of any sort, for any reason.”An interesting sidelight is that, at the time the Bill of Rights was adopted, American citizens could keep and use all the arms of the day. It was common for businesses to build their own warships and operate as privateers; not unlike modern bounty hunters. In modern terms, this would be like someone owning a Perry class frigate and all the missiles and weaponry that goes with it.”

Here was the definition of Militia from the Militia Act of 1792 (Found Here - http://www.constitution.org/mil/mil_act_1792.htm)
I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia, by the Captain or Commanding Officer of the company, within whose bounds such citizen shall reside, and that within twelve months after the passing of this Act. And it shall at all time hereafter be the duty of every such Captain or Commanding Officer of a company, to enroll every such citizen as aforesaid, and also those who shall, from time to time, arrive at the age of 18 years, or being at the age of 18 years, and under the age of 45 years (except as before excepted) shall come to reside within his bounds; and shall without delay notify such citizen of the said enrollment, by the proper non-commissioned Officer of the company, by whom such notice may be proved. That every citizen, so enrolled and notified, shall, within six months thereafter, provide himself with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch, with a box therein, to contain not less than twenty four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball; or with a good rifle, knapsack, shot-pouch, and powder-horn, twenty balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder; and shall appear so armed, accoutred and provided, when called out to exercise or into service, except, that when called out on company days to exercise only, he may appear without a knapsack. That the commissioned Officers shall severally be armed with a sword or hanger, and espontoon; and that from and after five years from the passing of this Act, all muskets from arming the militia as is herein required, shall be of bores sufficient for balls of the eighteenth part of a pound; and every citizen so enrolled, and providing himself with the arms, ammunition and accoutrements, required as aforesaid, shall hold the same exempted from all suits, distresses, executions or sales, for debt or for the payment of taxes.

Again it is very clear that the militia was intented to be the Army. If you look in the constitution, the Army we have now isn't supposed to exist. (No standing army for more than 2 years).

Reading list

2010-02-02T13:27:00.001-05:00

Thought I would check in for the two of you who care about what I am
reading right now. Just finished up Book 16 of the New Jedi Order
Series. And I want a break from the Yuuzhan Vong story line.

Picked up the last in the Republic Commando Series this weekend (in
paperback, as no one carries it in ebook format), 501st: An
Imperial Commando Novel. I also have a novel about the end of the
world to read (also paperback), plus the book written by that airline
pilot who crash landed the plane in the Hudson (ebook). I've also got
some non-fiction to read too, but I think I will stick with fiction at
the moment.

(I know, I need to put some titles in here, but I can't remember what they are, will look when I get home).

Apple iPad and Me.

2010-01-28T12:06:00.001-05:00

To preface this, I will disclose that I have been an Apple customer since 1986. I have personally owned a Mac since I turned 18 in 1996. I currently have 4 Macintosh computers (PowerMac G5(server), MacbookPro (mine), Macbook Air (Rachel’s), 12” Powerbook (Not even running right now), 3 ipods (2G Shuffle, 3G Nano, 1G Touch), and an AppleTV. And believe it or not, not one of these devices was purchased new. Most were refurbished, and a few were used. I am not a fanboy, and actually have disliked many of Apple’s decisions over the past few years. (No real display port on a laptop?? Why do I have to carry adapters to make any presentation at all???? Only two friggin’ USB ports??). Anyways……

Let’s talk a bit about my usage. I am not a heavy lifting computer user any more, at least at home. I check email, surf the web, use Web 2.0 (twitter, blogs, facebook, ect), and do finances and calendar sharing. Sometimes I do presentations, and papers for work, or the Fraternity at home on my Mac, but it’s just not an everyday occurrence. I don’t have a single Macintosh game. I do have a game I play in Windows with Bootcamp, but not very often. Lately, I have been doing most of the email reading, blog reading, and Web 2.0 stuff on my 1^st Generation iPod Touch. This has been great, as I am not spending as much time downstairs on my computer, and am more connected to my family. But I still have to go to my laptop to do most of my web surfing. Before I bought the Macbookpro in January 2008, I had been hoping for a 12” tablet, or new 12” laptop. Alas it didn’t come to pass, so I got the MacbookPro.

Yesterday, Apple announced a device called the iPad. It is basically a 10” iPod Touch. Many people have panned it as it can’t multitask, nor does it run OSX, just a scaled version of the iPhone OS. What I see, is possibility. Is this the device I wanted in January 2008? No. Are my computing needs the same as they were in 2008? Not even close. I see the iPad as exactly what Apple designed it for. A device to sit between devices. I have my laptop to do the heavy lifting, and as a home base as such. I can still take it with me if I need it. But I see the iPad as a perfect replacement for my iPod Touch. Perfect? Yes, as it can run everything I have on my Touch now, plus it has the potential to be so much more. What about Multitasking? I haven’t used it in 10+ years as a Palm user, why would I need it now. The Touch doesn’t have multitasking, but I get email, Facebook, twitter and other notifications when I am using other programs. Can someone explain to me what you really want multi-tasking for??? Please, people have had this discussion for years between PocketPC and Palm, and I could never figure out what multitasking brought to the table. I used to read ebooks on the iPod Touch, but it was killing my eyes, and I switched to a Dedicated ebook reader (Sony PRS-505). Reading on that is great, except it has all of the same issues as a book, mainly, I have to have a light on. I look forward to hearing how the reading experience is on the iPad, and how you load books that you already own, or make yourself. If that works out, I can combine quite a few devices into one. Yes it will be larger, but it is a version of what I have wanted for over 4 years, and I can’t wait to see what develops.

The only thing this brings to light is that I would lose my music player. I could temporarily use the 3G nano, but I guess this is basically pushing me towards getting an iphone (which other things have already been doing anyways). Hopefully the mystical Verizon iPhone will materialize around when my contract runs out in 2011.

What are your thoughts on the new iPad?

Found on the Interwebs today

2010-01-26T13:30:00.001-05:00

A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables when a voice in the dark said,

'Jesus knows you’re here.'

He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight off, and froze.

When he heard nothing more, after a bit, he shook his head and continued.

Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard

‘Jesus is watching you.'

Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice.

Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot.

‘Did you say that?' He hissed at the parrot.

'Yep', the parrot confessed, and then squawked, 'I'm just trying to warn you that he is watching you.'

The burglar relaxed. 'Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?'

‘Moses,’ replied the bird.

'Moses?' the burglar laughed. 'What kind of people would name a bird Moses?'

'The kind of people that would name a Rottweiler Jesus.'

Don't hold your breath.

2010-01-20T07:46:00.002-05:00

An historic night last night. A non-democrat has been elected from Mass. After being "represented" by a Kennedy and a Kerry, for years, they have elected a new person. But what about Obamacare? After all the rhetoric, after all the fear-mongoring, do you think the Democrats will listen to the people and stop the healthcare bill now? The Democrats said that if Brown was elected it would put the bill in jeopardy. Maybe "We the People" want it in jeopardy, want it stopped, but I bet they won't believe that. To them, it wasn't the people that voted in Brown, it was the right-wing conspiracy. So, I wouldn't hold your breath on Obamacare going away.

This November is looking like it could be fun. Find out if your Congressman/Senator is any good. If not, lets find someone to run in his or her place.

Lets throw the worthless bums out.

Solutions Wanted

2009-10-28T16:45:00.001-04:00

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

2009-09-14T10:40:00.001-04:00

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

2009-08-27T00:27:00.003-04:00

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

2009-06-05T10:10:00.002-04:00

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

2009-05-06T20:10:00.002-04:00

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

2009-04-30T11:01:00.004-04:00

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.

2009-03-20T15:54:00.001-04:00

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

2009-03-17T15:23:00.004-04:00

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

2009-03-03T17:10:00.000-05:00

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):

Have we come to this point in history again?

Last night

2009-02-23T08:36:00.001-05:00

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

2009-02-16T13:51:00.001-05:00

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

2009-01-28T09:24:00.002-05:00

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.

2009-01-26T16:42:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-01-05T09:19:00.002-05:00

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

2009-01-01T16:53:00.002-05:00

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.

House Call

2008-12-30T16:55:00.002-05:00

Got a call about the house!!!!!!! Showing it on Saturday.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

2008-12-24T10:22:00.003-05:00

May God bless you today and in the coming year!!

I am at work today, looking forward to driving to my parents tonight. Ricky and Wesley are excited about seeing their Nana and Pops. We will be driving to my sister's house tomorrow mid-afternoon for our family Christmas, then back to my parents for Thursday night, and then down to Cincy for Extended family Christmas on Friday.

Lots of traveling, but we will take our time and have fun doing it.

Interesting article

2008-12-19T08:42:00.003-05:00

I found this article today on wnd.com and thought it was interesting.

Today's Baal Worshipers
by
Matt Barber

I think it is very interesting. I don't know how much I agree with everything, but the basic premise makes sense. Today's liberals are yesterdays Baal worshipers. The parallels that he makes are pretty good.

Thoughts?

Great Article on "Global Warming"

2008-12-17T08:32:00.001-05:00

As many of your know, I do not believe in man made global warming. I don't even believe the globe is warming at all.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,468084,00.html

Some facts from the story.

The mean global temperature, at least as measured by satellite, is now the same as it was in the year 1980. In the last couple of years sea level has stopped rising. Hurricane and cyclone activity in the northern hemisphere is at a 24-year low and sea ice globally is also the same as it was in 1980

And my favorite:

James O'Brien, an emeritus professor at Florida State University who studies climate variability and the oceans, said that global climate change is very important for the country and that Americans need to make sure they have the right answers for policy decisions. But he said he worries that scientists and policymakers are rushing to make changes based on bad science.

"Global climate change is occurring in many places in the world," O'Brien said. "But everything that's attributed to global warming, almost none of it is global warming."

He took issue with the AP article's assertion that melting Arctic ice will cause global sea levels to rise.

"When the Arctic Ocean ice melts, it never raises sea level because floating ice is floating ice, because it's displacing water," O'Brien said. "When the ice melts, sea level actually goes down."

"I call it a fourth grade science experiment. Take a glass, put some ice in it. Put water in it. Mark level where water is. Let it met. After the ice melts, the sea level didn't go up in your glass of water. It's called the Archimedes Principle."

He called sea level changes a "major scare tactic used by the global warming people."

Shirts for Christmas, and other items

2008-12-03T21:18:00.003-05:00

I am working on laundry and getting all of my shirts unpacked, and have come to a huge revelation. I don't need any more shirts. If you have already purchased a shirt for me, that's great, I can use it, but don't buy me any if you haven't already. It turns out I had some shirts packed away. I have 54 shirts currently hanging in my closet, with a load of laundry in the washer and in the dryer with more shirts. So I will be weaning my shirt supply instead of growing it. I think I will get it down to 15 long sleeve dress shirts, 5 long sleeve polos, 10 short sleeve polo's, and 10 other shirts.

What should I do with the other shirts? I will be giving them away, but which charity should I give them too?

And for some more information about the ipod touch stuff. I recieved an email from the company that I posted (I have done business with them in the past), and they offered me a tremendous deal. I got the items shipped to me for 64% of the regular price :).

Things are going well. We have a "Sibling" class at Christ Hospital on Saturday for the boys to help with the baby. Then we are meeting up with Rachel's folks for dinner. Next week I have a bunch of meetings, then I am heading to Minster to work on flooring again. Hopefully it won't be too cold while I am there.

Well, need to get back to laundry.

Updated Christmas List

2008-12-02T14:35:00.002-05:00

Gift Cert to iTunes (to get Voltron seasons)
Gift cert to eReader.com or fictionwise.com (to get ebooks)(email for gift is ereader at johnsoax.com)
Back to the Future DVD set. (Widescreen)
The Usual Suspects DVD (widescreen)
Jurassic Park Adventure Pack ( widescreen)
Alien Triple Pack (widescreen)
the office season 2 or 3
House season 1,3,4
jeremy camp - Live Unplugged CD
jeremy camp - speaking lounder than before CD
Device mount for Pacifica (want to be able to have GPS and ipod mounted to it on side of dash, right now just want the custom mount for the Pacifica).
Dress shirts and ties. (I have no idea a size, I just went to the bathroom to look, and couldn't see find it in the shirt I am wearing at all.
Some way to generate electricity for free or cheap, (disposable nuclear reactor or "Mr. Fusion")
A buyer for my house.

Do not buy me:
Accessories for my iPod Touch (screen protector, some kind of protective case)

another item for my christmas

2008-11-30T22:45:00.001-05:00

another item for my christmas list

jeremy camp - Live Unplugged CD
jeremy camp - speaking lounder than before CD

More christmas list House season

2008-11-30T14:17:00.001-05:00

More christmas list

House season 1,3,4

more christmas list Jurassic Park

2008-11-30T14:14:00.001-05:00

more christmas list

Jurassic Park Adventure Pack ( widescreen)
Alien Triple Pack (widescreen)
the office season 2 or 3

What I want for Christmas

2008-11-26T15:35:00.001-05:00

Since I haven't had a chance to work on the Gift list section (or any part, for that matter) of johnsoax.com, here is my Christmas list. It is subject to change at will.

Gift Cert to iTunes (to get Voltron seasons)

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

Back to the Future DVD set. (Widescreen)

The Usual Suspects DVD (widescreen)

Accessories for my iPod Touch (screen protector, some kind of protective case)

Device mount for Pacifica (want to be able to have GPS and ipod mounted to it on side of dash, right now just want the custom mount for the Pacifica).

Dress shirts and ties. (I have no idea a size, I just went to the bathroom to look, and couldn't see find it in the shirt I am wearing at all.

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

A buyer for my house.

This week

2008-11-25T10:56:00.000-05:00

This week will be another busy week. I have work Monday-Wednesday, then Thursday we have family get togethers. Friday Rachel, the boys and I will head to the Minster house to work on it. I am going to be laying flooring in the dining room and living room. Hopefully I can finish that on Friday, and then Saturday I will try to put in all the trim. Sunday we will hopefully be back in Cincy, hopefully relaxing. And at some point we really have to finish unpacking at the apartment. Busy, busy, busy.

Weekend a partial success

2008-11-24T10:50:00.002-05:00

Well, I completed my primary task for the weekend. I got the two storage units emptied out. I also completed three loads of laundry, and got the washing machine ready for transport. But I just couldn't get the washing machine out of the basement. It was just too heavy. My dolly either doesn't have big enough wheels, or I am just not strong enough to lift it up the 8" stair treads.

The family get together went well. We had fun visiting family, and I even got to sit in a DeLorean (my cousin Mike recently bought one).

This is a short week at work, then the Thanksgiving Holiday on Thursday. Then Friday and Saturday we will be up in Minster laying flooring, and doing general cleaning. If anyone wants to help, let me know, I have plenty for people to do :).

Upcoming weekend

2008-11-21T09:29:00.001-05:00

This weekend will be a busy one. Tonight, I head up to Minster, by myself, to empty the storage units out. I have already given notice to the storage company that we will be vacating them. That will save us quite a bit of money every month. I just haven't figured out how I am going to get a sleeper sofa out of the trailer and into the house by myself yet. May have to call a neighbor to help or something.

Also, I will be doing a few loads of laundry. The washing machine at our apartment is broken, so I will be taking two or three loads with me to do at the house. Then the real fun begins. I am taking our washing machine to my parents house, as I don't want to store it for a year, and my parents could use a new one. I will be taking my parents washing machine with me to the apartment (hopefully Dad got it fixed). And we will be using it for a while at the apartment. Then we get to play musical trailer so that Rachel and I don't have to deal with the trailer for the week. Hmm, we may need the trailer next weekend. Well if we do, I will just have to get it from my parents house.

Then Sunday, we have the Nead family thanksgiving get together, except we aren't calling it a thanksgiving get together, because we are having Chili, not turkey. :). Oh well, it should be fun to see all my Aunts and Uncles and Cousins :).

Hopefully we can sell the house in Minster soon. With the apartment, and house payments, plus utilities at both, we are just squeaking by. If anyone knows of someone who might want to live in Minster, or wants a really good investment house, let me know!! 4 bedroom, 1-1/2 bath, full basement, newly renovated kitchen, and huge yard - $135k - negotiable.

What I believe - politically

2008-11-13T14:57:00.001-05:00

I found this on American Thinker today, and I really like it. So here is what I believe, politically.

I believe in one nation, under God, indivisible, with freedom and justice for all.

I believe in the Constitution of the United States, a nation of laws, not men.

I believe in the greatness of America, having no limit to what it may achieve.

I believe in America's manifest destiny and the obligation to use our resources and power to preserve and propagate liberty and democratic government around the word.

I believe the United States has the right and obligation to use military force, even preemptively, but judiciously, anywhere in the world whenever the vital interests of the United States and her allies are threatened.

I believe the United States is a nation without peer, whose sovereignty shall never be subjugated to, nor compromised by, any nation or nations anywhere on earth for national security, trade, economics or for any other purpose.

I believe in the sanctity of human life, including protections for the unborn and the infirm.

I believe in the right of consenting adults to make lifestyle choices, provided I am neither required to pay for such choices nor required to accept corruption of traditional family institutions in name or form, as a condition for accepting such choices.

I believe in free market capitalism.

I believe that private citizens and private enterprises can spend their own money more wisely than the government.

I believe taxes should support only those necessary and minimally essential government functions, not to underwrite an ever-expanding role of government intruding into our private lives nor enlarging the welfare state.

I believe tax burdens should be fairly distributed and proportional: no economic class should disproportionately subsidize another.

I believe tax policies should not confiscate the rewards of achievement; instead taxes should encourage entrepreneurship, inspire upward mobility and motivate wealth creation.

I believe in equal opportunities and if measured objectively I can accept unequal outcomes.

I believe in the self-esteem of achievement, not in patronizing generosity.

I believe in personal accountability where I am responsible for my own actions and where I will not blame the shortcomings and disappointments of this life on someone else.

I believe in freedom of expression, the competition of ideas in an open marketplace free from intimidation, prejudice, suppression and retaliation.

I believe in leaders who respect differences of opinion and reject the politics of hate, distortion and personal destruction.

I believe in leaders who are intellectually honest with me and who value my intelligence and common sense as much as their own.

I believe in leaders who are authentic and can make a personal connection with me despite our differences in personal taste and economic station in life.

I believe in leaders who appeal to my hopes instead of reinforcing my fears.

I believe in leaders who identify with my dreams and aspirations instead of reminding me of my failures, misjudgments and infirmities.

I believe in American democracy where voting is a valued privilege, not a right afforded to every inhabitant, regardless of citizenship, criminality, or inability to fill out a ballot.

I believe in voting as a sacred duty where on that day all qualified American citizens are equal with power and authority to judge and choose.

I believe in the unique American ideology of liberty, freedom of thought, assembly, speech and worship; of political power used to protect private property and promote economic self-determination.

I believe the unique American ideology transcends and binds the racial, ethnic and religious diversity in America and offers hope for millions of oppressed people around the globe.

I believe in Almighty God who shed His grace on this great nation, from the beginning, and who pours His blessings upon us and our descendents, now and forever,

Amen.

Moving Day 2 - update

2008-11-12T11:02:00.001-05:00

Moving along pretty well. A good bunch of the furniture is in the house. Lots of boxes to go though. Hopefully they finish up soon.

I have to leave for work in 30 minutes. Rachel should be home by then.

Moving Day 2

2008-11-12T08:34:00.001-05:00

Well after an evening of moving the twin beds upstairs and moving things around for the movers on Wednesday, we had an absolutely horrible night. Ricky got sick three times in all. 2,4 and 6 am. The washer at the apartment seems to be broken.

And the movers haven't shown up yet.

Wait, there they are.

More later.

Moving 3

2008-11-11T15:20:00.001-05:00

We are about 99% loaded up. Just things here and there that we are grabbing.

Unfortunately there is still quite a bit of stuff here that we will have to move later. Hopefully most of it we will sell or give away.

Now when the movers get done, I am going to rip out the carpet in the living room/dining room areas :). Need to install that Ikea floor Thanksgiving weekend. Anyone want to help me out then?

More later :)

Moving 2

2008-11-11T13:53:00.002-05:00

The movers are here (and have been since about 9:15). I did get the leaves raked up at least in the front yard. The movers went to the storage unit first while Rachel finished up some packing. By the time there were done over there, Rachel had finished up and was getting the boys ready to head over to a friends for the afternoon.

All the packing is done. The kitchen didn't take that long. Now is the long time of loading, but we are probably 75% loaded right now. Just the basement, crib and our bed to go :).

More later.

Moving 1

2008-11-11T08:19:00.003-05:00

We ran out of tape last night at 12:45, so we headed to bed. Got up this morning entirely too early and I ran out to get tape (and donuts :)). I got the few things out of the garage already that we want the movers to move (we need most of my tools here for working on the house). Now we are making a mad dash around the house trying to finish up the packing. We will still have a few trips to make when we are all done today, but at least the movers are moving the heavy stuff.

Remember

2008-11-07T14:55:00.002-05:00

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Moving....Finally

2008-11-07T10:11:00.003-05:00

Well, after two days of painting for 4 hours a day, I am finally able to post.

Our apartment in Cincy had Mexican resturant orange walls in the kitchen and dining room. My pregnant wife informed me that I had to change them, so I used the left over paint from our kitchen in Minster to paint the dining room and kitchen, a nice regal green color (called Chive). It looks much better now.

And our big news so far of this month is that we are finally fully moving down to Cincy. Rachel and the boys have been living apart from me since the middle of September. Movers are coming on Tuesday to pack the kitchen and breakables and load up the trailer. I get to be there to supervise due to Tuesday being a holiday. But Rachel gets to supervise the unloading alone :(. If anyone wants to help her out next wednesday, let us know.

So last night should be the last night that I spend at the apartment alone. So I am excited to say the least. Plus I will finally get to watch TV on the big screen again, instead of this junky little 20" one ;).

More later.

Welcome to all my readers.

2008-11-07T10:09:00.002-05:00

I've noticed a lot of hits recently, and wanted to say welcome to all my far flung readers.

How I feel

2008-11-05T12:50:00.002-05:00

This pretty much sums up how I feel about the election.

Posted at WND.com as a letter to the editor.

"America's best days are now behind us
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I never thought I'd live to see the day when I would be disgusted with my country. I'm as much of a flag-waving conservative as they come, someone who has always been proud to be American and believes in the fundamental greatness and exceptionalism that America has been. But to see my fellow Americans elect a man to the presidency with ties to domestic and foreign terrorists, openly campaigns on socialistic tax policies, expresses clear disdain for the people who drive 80 percent of job creation, has political attack dogs who go after ordinary citizens who ask him tough questions, and the list goes on. It makes me sick to my stomach and has greatly diminished my faith in America as well as my belief that it can ever regain the greatness it enjoyed many decades ago.

This man, Obama, was chosen over a decorated war veteran with a long history of patriotism and service to his country? I'm certainly no big fan of John McCain politically as he has opposed conservative principles at times in his career, but compared to Barack Hussein Obama? An America true to its founding principles would reject a candidate like Obama who's very love for his country is suspect and sits in a church pew for 20 years listening to a preacher yell G-d damn America.

The American foundational ideals of a small government, guided by biblical principles and accountable to the people was just spat upon in this election. Further, I'm skeptical these ideals can ever be revived. Make no mistake, the left is getting the return on its investment it made in the liberal indoctrination centers, otherwise known as the public schools and universities. The "youth" vote which went heavily for Obama is a clear indicator of their utter ignorance of the history and founding principles of this country and the wars that were fought against the very ideologies Obama leans toward and of the people he "pals around with." The schools and universities have produced the future perpetual-juvenile, entitlement-minded, dependency-class electorate that the Democratic Party needs to survive. They have no concerns about Obama's ties to America haters. To them, Obama will bring about "social justice," and that's all that matters. In short, we've seen in this election the last 20 years of liberal brainwashing coming home to roost.

Having just watched a documentary on the Revolutionary War, I was reminded of the incomprehensible sacrifices that were made in order to establish the United States as a country. As I look out across this country on this night, indeed over the last 40 years, it's clear that sacrifice has been squandered. The relative peace and prosperity we've enjoyed has caused too many Americans to have slowly become spoiled, adopting a juvenile mentality where they believe that the country owes them something and they look to the government like a child asking parents for an allowance. This election shows that at least half the country has adopted that mentality, for indeed the vast majority of the Democratic Party's constituency is comprised of these social juveniles and the rest are the elites who seek power by affirming that mentality through the demonization of those who actually give these people jobs.

Clearly, this is the beginning of the end, as the United States is officially in decline. As many of us are coming to realize, America's best days are far behind her. The emerging new electorate knows and cares nothing of America's history (nor do they have any desire to learn it). They are ignorant of America's foundational principles, and they reject the idea that America is an exceptional country and is unique among all nations and empires that came before it. It's no wonder that the news media and Hollywood are so thrilled about these "new voters."

At the end of the day, as I gaze on my children sleeping (unaware of the bleak future that awaits them), it truly saddens me to contemplate the America they'll be growing up in. They deserve the America that I once knew and they're not going to get it. So I go to bed tonight with heavy heart and very little hope for the future.

Mike Michaelian
"

I love my new job.......

2008-10-03T10:30:00.001-04:00

I love my new job.......

That is all. :)

Late

2008-09-21T21:18:00.000-04:00

I know, I know, I said that I would get some stuff up last week. Well with the power outage that gripped the city of Cincinnati last week, and starting the new job, Rachel and the Boys stayed all last week, so I didn't get anything done. Well this week, I have chores. I have to mow the lawn here tomorrow, then do some painting. After that, depending on what time it is, I will get started on some blogging. :)

Getting started

2008-09-13T13:07:00.002-04:00

We have rented a place on the bus line. We don't want another car. I have decided to use the bus to get back and forth to work. At least right now.... We will see how it goes.

Getting ready to make a small move down there with just essentials for me for the week.

Also still feeling very weak from having the flu for the last two days.

Hopefully we can sell our house by November. UC is paying to move us down, so we are going to take a couple weekends after the big move to really clean and finish the house up here, and hopefully get it sold.

So if anyone wants to buy a nice fixer-upper in Minster, OH, please let me know. It isn't that expensive either ;).

Big News

2008-09-04T10:03:00.001-04:00

Since I gave my notice, I can post that I have a new job. I will be a Senior Staff Engineer at the University of Cincinnati in the Planning + Design + Construction Department. My tentative start date is September 15th. That may slide depending on my current projects at my current job at Garmann/Miller. Garmann/Miller has been a fantastic place to work, but I just couldn't pass up this opportunity. Rachel and I are busy house hunting and other stuff involved with the move.

New phone

2008-09-04T09:33:00.003-04:00

I got a new phone. Treo 755P. It is all set up and running well. I have never had a a palm setup so easy.

Home

2008-08-19T15:50:00.002-04:00

We have been on vacation for the past week. After driving 2353 miles round trip, we are tired of being in the car, but we had a good trip, and now we are home safely.

Thanks again to Brian and Beth Diksen for putting us up for a night and visiting with us for a while. Can't wait to see you guys next year.

We are still alive :)

2008-08-15T04:25:00.001-04:00

For security reasons, we have been quiet for a few days.

I will make a big post next week about the past week :).

News...........

2008-08-06T21:44:00.002-04:00

We are expecting baby number three. More info to follow.

Life....

2008-08-03T18:11:00.002-04:00

I am sitting at work at the moment. I am running a backup of our working drawings files. It is the company's offsite backup. We have so many jobs going on right now, that I am trying to make my once a month backup into every two weeks. I may make it every week here pretty soon.

My sister and her husband came over earlier today, and we ordered Bud's pizza :), yum, that is good.

Well back to the backup.

Golf went as expected

2008-07-28T10:36:00.001-04:00

I am not really very good at golfing, so I did about as well as I expected. Both of our teams finished 10 under par :).

I think that we used 1 or 2 of my shots all day.

Anyways, afterwards we went to Texas Road house and had dinner.

I ordered the smallest steak at 8 oz. 4 others ordered 16oz, and one guy, Brian, ordered a 32oz steak.

And he ate it.

I guess that it helps that he is a giant. He is 6'8" tall, so he is over a foot taller than me.

I think the word is getting out.

2008-07-25T08:28:00.001-04:00

Do I have your vote?

Engineering Golf outing

2008-07-24T23:23:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow, 7 of our 8 engineers are playing golf in the OSPE golf tournament in Lima. We had to pull an architect into playing to round out our two teams. It will be the employees with the most years, vs the newer employees. May the best team win.

I really don't play well, but since it is a scramble, I may be able to contribute with some chips or with a putt or two. :) Hopefully.

More tomorrow.

Project update - 07/21/08

2008-07-21T11:49:00.000-04:00

Well, the drawing count has ballooned up to 94. But they are all done. Just doing the specifications now, and will start plotting the 94 drawings to paper after lunch.

:)

Project Update - 07/20/08

2008-07-20T15:37:00.001-04:00

Came in and finished that last drawing. Now I am putting my drawings on to the cover sheet, and then I will go home.

Project Update - 07/18/08

2008-07-18T18:57:00.002-04:00

I have 1 drawing left to go. Probably will come in on sunday and do it.

My coworker assures me that he will have his 8 drawings done tonight. I still have to go through the specifications one more time, but I have till 4 on Monday. I worked 50 hours this week and 70 last week to get this thing done. Boy am I glad it is almost over. But I have another submission on this job in October, so I can't slow down too much.

Project update - 07/17/08

2008-07-17T18:22:00.002-04:00

12/84 Drawings to go. 8 to be completed by another person, so really only 4 more for me to do. Project due 4 PM Monday.

Project update

2008-07-16T09:15:00.002-04:00

Only 20 out of 84 drawing sheets to go :) And 8 of those sheets are being completed by a co-worker.

I know, I am bad about updating

2008-07-15T07:30:00.002-04:00

The kitchen is done, minus trim. We haven't been able to start the dining room yet because of work. I have been working between 45-50 hours every week on a project. Last week I worked 69.75 hours (I just couldn't stay for that last 15 minutes ;)). This week looks to be between 50-55. I have a big project due a week from yesterday. I should be able to get it done without working so many hours this week.

This weekend we work on the dining room. Or maybe I will put in one of the kitchen windows. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Oh, and we got a new domain last night - starwarsdudes.com :).

More progress

2008-05-22T00:03:00.002-04:00

Installed 2 outlets, wire connected in the breaker panel
gas is installed
range is installed.
circuit is half pulled for the dishwasher.

as far as plumbing, the drains are done, including for the dishwasher (pictures on flickr), but the supply is not done. I am really not good at soldering copper. Not at all. Burned up a t. Then I picked up the wrong shutoff valves for the sink, so I need to return those and get the right ones.

Might wait for Dad to help me finish up the plumbing.
The dishwasher can be installed at anytime after the electric and plumbing is done.

Things on tomorrow nights agenda
Mow the lawn
Move the family computer into the kitchen.
Put the kitchen table into the kitchen.
Clean tools out of kitchen, clean kitchen really well for Rachel to start moving things in.
If I have time, I will work on plumbing some more.

List for hardware store tomorrow
shingle nails (for pipe hangers)
2 correct shutoff valves
3 copper 1/2 90s
some way to connect the new copper to the old galvanized without soldering the two together. I thought the outlets on the galvanized were at 45 degree, but they are not, so I can't solder them solid. Probably need to get some kind of flex hose.

Progress on Kitchen

2008-05-18T22:08:00.002-04:00

List of things accomplished this weekend.

Backsplash Fully installed and painted
Floor in kitchen installed
Closet door and frame removed.
Range carried into kitchen and unpacked (Not hooked up yet)
2 of the 5 remaining electrical outlets installed. (need longer screws for two) (One I have to get into the crawls space for, and that isn't happening before the party)
Purchased breakers for diswasher and 2nd kitchen circuit.

Remaining before party
install 2 outlets - Connect wire in breaker panel (Monday)
install plumbing - (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)
install gas (Monday)
install range (Monday)
run circuit for dishwasher (Monday)
install dishwasher (Thursday)

Progress on the kitchen - Future plans

2008-05-16T22:36:00.002-04:00

Ok,

Lets see, since I posted last, I have gotten the following done.

Finished stripping the bad primer.
Painted on the new primer
Pulled up all of the old floor.
Got all the other stuff floating around the kitchen out
Painted the wall color
Finished the electrical rough in for the counter recepticles, light above the sink, and future garbage disposal.
(The outside wall was a bear, I had three two conductor cables embedded into the brick, so I had to find where they all ran out of the brick in the attic (major dusty insulation), reconfigure them and wire it all together. The three cables are 1- switch for future garbage disposal, 2- ground wire for receptacle and switch leg for light, and 3- power and neutral for receptacle (power feeds the light switch too))

Remaining to do before party (boys birthday party)
Install floor
Install backsplash
paint backsplash
install outlets - Connect wire in breaker panel
install plumbing
install gas
install range
run circuit for dishwasher
install dishwasher

Remaining to do after party
Install baseboard trim
replace both kitchen windows
install window trim
replace closet door - install trim
replace garage access door - install trim
replace front kitchen door - install trim
replace door frame between kitchen and dining room with pass through trim
Replace lights
Maybe after that, install crown molding, clean and paint the ceiling.

Next project - continue to run new flooring into dining room, hallway, and living room. Also strip wallpaper, and paint same rooms before new floor goes in.

All in all, a pretty busy summer left :)

One year ago

2008-05-10T23:22:00.002-04:00

One year ago this weekend, we tore out the kitchen at our house.

Well, today we installed the new countertop :)

I will take pictures after I get done working tomorrow, I think you will all be suprised by our progress :)

Check back tomorrow night.

Now I need to sleep. I also mowed the front lawn tonight.

Very tired and sore.

$60 dollars later....

2008-05-07T10:38:00.002-04:00

I have the new primer and some other needed tools. The wallpaper steamer worked well to remove the bad primer.

2 walls down, 2 walls to go.

Then I can start the painting process all over :(.

Primer wasn't the right kind.

2008-05-06T19:21:00.001-04:00

Its pealing off at the slightest touch, so now I get to scrape it all off and start over :(.

Primer is up

2008-05-06T10:07:00.002-04:00

Got two coats of Primer painted last night. Tonight I paint the wall color. Hopefully it won't smell as bad as the primer did.

If all goes well, I will be installing the new floor on Thursday.

The request for help is still out there. Lots more to do before the deadline of May 24th :).

Kitchen on the Move

2008-05-04T21:25:00.002-04:00

All of the cabinets are in!!!! (Well, the one that has to be built around the dishwasher isn't in yet) The countertop is ordered. The wallpaper is all stripped. I would be painting primer right now if I had a tray liner for my paint tray :(. The flooring for the whole first floor is sitting in the kitchen and the dining room. I hope to get that installed in the kitchen this week.

If you want to help, give me a call, I most likely could use the help :).

Check out photos.johnsoax.com for pictures.

More Computer woes

2008-04-24T10:47:00.000-04:00

So my 4 month old Apple died on Saturday :(. Just wouldn't boot at all. It would make the startup noise, then just sit at a bright gray-blue screen for hours. It wouldn't boot from CD, it wouldn't boot from External HD. Nothing. So I called Apple.

They said they would send me a box. I got the box Tuesday morning. I ran home and grabbed it and the laptop at lunch, packaged it all up, and sent it out Tuesday night.

I got it back this morning. 40 hours. That is all that it was out of my possession. 40 hours. Wow.

They got it Wednesday morning, fixed it and shipped it back to me.

They replaced the Hard drive. Why a failed HD would cause that problem, I don't know. Apple can't tell me. I will be keeping a very close watch on the computer for a while. I only lost two things. The complete PC setup (didn't back that up yet :( ), and my Quicken entries from the 17th. The computer is sitting and restoring from backup at home as I speak, and I will run home and see if I can fix the quicken problem at lunch. I will use the computer for a while before I do anything with the PC side. Then I will make another full backup, then reformat/partition, and reinstall/restore the Mac side, and then work on the PC side again. And this time, I will make a backup of the PC side :).

Hopefully this will fix the problems that I have had with this machine. If the HD was going bad (even though I tested it a few times), it would explain the random freezing and such I was having, I guess.

Stay tuned for more meaningless entries of my life :)

Sold the Vibe

2008-03-30T22:18:00.001-04:00

So I sold the vibe today to a nice couple from Michigan. They paid 65% cash and the rest by check. We will see just how nice they were when the check cashes. :)

Autotrader.com works great.

Kitchen finally moving

2008-03-23T22:42:00.002-04:00

Well, in the past 10 days or so, I have installed 7 more cabinets. You can see pictures on my flickr page.

Mini Vacation part 2

2008-03-17T15:02:00.001-04:00

Monday Morning, we got up and headed out to take the "F" line bus to Pier 39. We waited for a while on our side of the road (heading north), then saw the bus coming from the other way, and ran over to get on it. We didn't have correct change, so we had to make change with someone on the bus. Two people were very helpful. So we are riding the bus, and the driver calls out "Castro Street, Last Stop" I walked up and asked him "We are trying to get to Peir 39", He replies, "Well, you got on the bus going the wrong way, just stay on, and We will head back that way soon". So we sat for a while, while the driver got off and changed the signs, and we looked around. The "F" line is a tracked electric bus. It runs on rails in the street, so there isn't a steering wheel. So finally we started heading back the other way.

After our short sight-seeing trip to the south, we headed back north and got to pier 39. We went to the Aquarium, where Ricky dragged us through the "tube" habitats twice before I just couldn't take it anymore. Wes enjoyed it too. The way it is set up is that there are huge tubes that run through the tank, so basically you walk through the tank with fish all around you (except for below). It was really neat, but also gave me a headache. After the aquarium, we headed down and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, then we walked along the pier and took pictures of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Then we came to the Sea Lions. Ricky absolutely loved them. For most of the rest of the day, he sounded just like them. After the Sea Lions, we headed down the street to Fisherman's Wharf. We bought a Sourdough bread turtle from Boutin's Bread. (More on this later). An Asian woman ran up while Ricky was looking at this purchase and just had to take a picture of our "absolutely beautiful child". We said sure and laughed, wondering if we would see our son on some flickr page later.

Then we walked over to the Ghirardelli Chocolate plaza and had ice cream and chocolate. Then we walked back to the bus, but a different way, through a neighborhood to see the houses. On the bus trip back to the hotel, a funny thing happened. A guy got on and said that he needed a dollar for the bus. A man finally gave it to him, and he walked farther back into the bus "All I need is a dollar" Everyone on the bus laughed at him, and he got off at the next stop.*

Back at the hotel, we were all pretty tired, so we decided to rent a movie with iTunes on my computer. After selecting the movie, it said that it was going to take 19 hours to download. So we decided to just order PPV and saw Alvin and the Chipmunks. Very cute movie. Ricky didn't pay much attention to it the first time, so Rachel rewinded it and started watching it again while I went to get food at the Burger King across the street, but Ricky decided to turn off the TV. After a quick call to the front desk, Rachel was able to get it running again. After eating, I worked on some fraternity stuff on the painfully slow internet access. Ricky was dancing around to the songs in the movie :). After that we packed for the travel day the next day.

Tuesday morning, we got up, finished packing, and ate the sourdough turtle from the day before. We headed down to check out, and jumped on the Bart to the airport. We got our tickets, and found that while we were together on our first flight, they had moved us all around, and none of us were together for the flight from Cleveland to Dayton. After getting through security, (Again, very nice agents.) we ate a real breakfast of muffins and drinks at the airport. I went to talk to the gate about getting our tickets fixed for the second flight, but they stated that we had to wait till we were in Cleveland. I was able to download stuff much faster at the airport, and finished downloading our rental movie, plus the free stuff from iTunes (they have new free music and video downloads every Tuesday). We were able to load onto the airplane right after First class because Continental has a family boarding time. That was nice, especially because we were towards the back of the plane. About an hour after getting underway, Ricky was being crabby, so I tried to get him to take a nap. About 30 minutes later, we actually got a full meal on the plane. Salad, Pizza, and a twix. We got food for Ricky, but he was asleep. Ricky started coughing and woke up, and then got sick all over himself and his seat. After getting that cleaned up, Wes grabbed Rachel's Diet Caffeine free Coke and dumped it in my lap. Thankfully the flight was quite empty, so Rachel and Wes were able to move to a different row, while I cleaned stuff up. Ricky got sick again so I changed him into his PJ's, and because we only had about another 2 hours left of the flight, I decided to not change pants. Well, 2 hours and 45 minutes later, 45 minutes after the last notice from the captain that we were 15 minutes from Cleveland, and about 35 minutes before our next flight was supposed to take off from Cleveland, I asked a flight attendant what was going on. About 5 minutes later, the Capitan came on, and said that we were in a holding pattern while they cleaned off the runways at Cleveland. 45 minutes later we landed. As we were sitting at the gate, waiting to get off the plane, I watched our flight pull away from the other gate. So much for getting home tonight.

We got off the plane and headed towards the customer service area to try to find a flight home. The next flight they had was the next morning at 8:45. Hey, we all get to sit together. Fine, oh and we get a voucher for a hotel, ok, that's good. Oh, it's only a 50% off coupon. Ok, fine. We called and got booked at a holiday inn about 15 miles from the airport. After waiting for the shuttle (really just a van), we found out that it was full, and I took my family back inside the airport. I have never seen such selfish disregard. If I was traveling and saw a family with very small children (at 9 PM at night) not being able to head to the hotel, I would have waited for the next shuttle so they could get one. But nonetheless, about 20 minutes later, another van came and took us to the hotel. It was snowing really bad, and the roads after being plowed still had about 2" of snow on them. We waited in line and got our room. We all headed to it, walked in, and found that the bed wasn't made, there were used cups on the dresser, and money on the nightstand as a tip. We headed back to the lobby, and said that we needed another room. I also mentioned that I wanted a 6:30 shuttle so that we could get back to the airport with tons of time. They apologized for the room and were about to offer us free breakfast, but it didn't start till 6:30 anyways, so we would miss it. After getting our second set of keys, we headed up to the room, and were relaxing when Rachel pulled back the covers and found the bed was full of hair. Now I was upset. I left Rachel and the kids in the room, and headed back down to the lobby, and demanded another room, and stated that we have never had such bad service. The manager waited on me this time, and was a jerk. "Sir, you are already here at half rate because you are a "distressed-traveler", I can't give you more of a discount. Here are two free tickets for breakfast". I replied that I can't use them, I wanted to be on the shuttle at 6:30. "Oh, if you come down, they should be able to give you breakfast early" Yeah, right. "Here, I will put you in one of our remodeled suites, it is quite a bit more expensive, but you don't have to pay for that" Gee, thanks. I took the keys and headed upstairs to check out the new room. It was a nice room, and clean, so I went and got Rachel and the boys, and we settled down for the night.

To make things even worse, I tried to start my Mac up, but it wouldn't start. I was getting a circle with a slash through it instead of it booting. I could boot into Windows ok, but not Mac os. So after about an hour of searching online in windows, I gave up and went to bed.

The next morning, we got up, I tried the computer one more time, and it still wouldn't start. We got a packed up, and headed down at about 6:25 to catch our shuttle. "He left at 6 for the first trip, and hasn't gotten back yet." Well, it is about 15 miles, so he should be here soon. 6:45, rolls around, and he isn't back. The snow outside looks horrible. 6:55 no shuttle. There are two shuttles sitting outside with no drivers. Finally one of the people behind the counter goes and cleans off one of the shuttles so that the 6:30 and 7:00 people can head to the airport. We all load in, and as we are leaving, the other shuttle shows up. We just kept going. The roads were bad, but there was no traffic heading towards the airport. But coming back from the airport, the traffic was backed up for as far as we can see. No wonder the guy couldn't get back. We got there, and I followed Rachel into security. Somehow we were in the first class line, so we ducked under the line dividers to get in line behind the "normal" people ;). We go to turn the first corner, and a TSA agent looks at me, removes the barrier and says, "Follow me please". Shoot, we are in trouble for getting under the barrier. "No sir, we have a "Family" security line, it should be easier for you". We didn't have to take anything out of our bags, and we breezed through security. Again, very nice agents, who were helpful. We went to our gate and sat down, and Ricky and I headed back to get donuts for breakfast. When Ricky and I got back, I noticed that our gate listed a different flight. I quickly checked, and our flight had been moved from the night before. We had to to go from C29 to Gate D2. And Rachel was convinced that we were late, so we sprinted there ;). After getting to our new gate, we waited for 15 minutes, then started boarding. Our suitcases were too big for this little plane, so we had to gate check them. This plane was also rather empty. We took our seats, and they made Rachel move, because there was only one oxygen mask in the place she was sitting, so she ended up behind Ricky and I. I was worried that Ricky was going to get airsick, as he was acting cranky again, so I got an airsick bag ready. Ricky fell asleep as we were being deiced. Those are the neatest trucks that I have seen. We finally took off, and I kept an eye on Ricky the whole time. Once we landed, I woke Ricky up. He was fine, and didn't get sick. :).

We headed to the car, and headed home. We picked up lunch on the way home, and I went to work after lunch. And that is the story of our San Francisco trip :).

* This is similar to something that happened to me once in Chicago. I was downtown for a two day training class, and BP had put me up in a hotel downtown (Hotel 71 I think, it was very modern, and pretty nice). I was walking around near the "L" (elevated subway train in Chicago) just seeing the sights when a man in a three piece business suit, leather briefcase, and impeccably groomed asked me for a nickel to get on the "L". He had a handful of change, and it seemed like he was just short of heading home. I gave him a nickel. About 20 minutes later I was walking back through there heading back to my hotel, and the same guy stopped me and said the same story. I said "Hey, you asked me that 20 minutes ago, I thought you were for real" He just smiled and walked away.

Mini Vacation - Part One

2008-03-03T09:52:00.002-05:00

So on Feb 21st we headed for Dayton to start our trip to San Fransico. The first plane ride was horrible from Dayton to Atlanta. It was bumpy and turbulent. We actually bounced on the landing, we hit so hard. The flight from Atlanta to San Fran was much smoother, but after the 4th hour, we were getting pretty uncomfortable. The last hour of the flight was just plane bad. Ricky couldn't get comfortable, I couldn't get comfortable. Did you know that they have shrunk the amount of room you have under the seats in front of you? My backpack barely fit, and took up some of the room for my feet. Same with overhead compartments, my suitcase, which has never had a problem fitting, would only fit a certain way. :(

Anyways, we got to San Fransisco around 9:30 PM Pacific time, or 12:30 AM Eastern. We were tired, and got on the Bart, and thankfully our hotel was right at the Civic Center stop of the Bart.

Friday morning we got up and after being shell shocked by the prices at Burger King, we of course went shopping. The mall was gorgeous, the whole forth floor was an atrium (I should have pictures up on flickr soon of the rest of the trip) that you can sit in and talk. Then we got on the Bart and headed off to Berkley for Rachel's meeting. We looked at a map to see how far we had to walk, and it looked like about 3 blocks, maybe 4 from the train station. After walking 7 blocks, we started making calls. It turns out that something got messed up when we looked at the map, We had to walk 7 blocks south, and 7 blocks east, UP A HILL ;). We finally got there, and after catching my breath, Ricky and I headed back down the hill. We actually caught a bus, and took that back to the train station. We stopped at Game Stop to see if they had a Wii, and found out that even the big cities have the same problem, No Wii's in stock :(. Ricky and I took the Bart back downtown, and went to the Apple Store, and got a video adapter for my laptop. Of course Ricky wanted to play at the "Kids Stations" and play StarWars Lego's. Then we headed back to the hotel and grabbed Burger King for dinner (at half of the price of the breakfast that morning).

Saturday morning Ricky and I woke up and rode the Bart one stop north to the mall. We had breakfast in the food court, then went up to Market street and started walking North. We found a toy store, and had fun there, then just kept walking. After about 4 blocks we turned around and walked back. We did stop by the Apple store again. Since it was looking like rain we headed back to the mall for lunch. Ricky was getting pretty tired, so we sat down on a chair in the mall, and Ricky fell asleep for about 20 minutes. Then we went down to the basement floor, and I let Ricky play on one of those Xbox mats, you know where they have the projector pointing down at the floor and a webcam to tell your inputs? He played on that for two or three cycles, then I was tired of standing around. We headed back to the hotel for a real nap. After nap time, we headed back out and went to the Apple store again ;). Then we went walking towards the Sony store. I kept seeing people with "WonderCon badges" on their shirts, and finally asked someone what it was, and if Ricky would like it. They stated that people were dressed up as super heros and as starwars characters, so I was like, sweet, lets check it out. Ricky and walked over to the center, and saw the length of the line, and how it was still raining off and on, and we turned around and headed back to the Sony store. Ricky had fun seeing the big TV's and playing games at the Playstation Store. Then we again went to the apple store, because Ricky asked really nicely to go back. After finally prying him away from there for the third time, we had dinner at Hagen Daz :), well not really, but we did have dessert first, then went and had pizza. Then we headed back to the Hotel. I found a 5 dollar bill on the ground in the Bart Station, so we stopped by a starbucks and I got a $5 gift card to use later :) Then we headed to bed.

Sunday morning, we got up and got on the Bart to Berkley to get Rachel and Wes. We got on the wrong train, so in Oakland got off the first train, and got on the next one. Then we had to change trains to get to Berkley. We finally got to Berkley and then walked to a Starbucks and had breakfast. Rachel called to see where we were, and we headed out. Ricky and I walked for a few blocks, then grabbed the bus to get close. Still had to walk for a few blocks. Met a few of Rachel's Soroity sisters, and after visiting for a while, got a ride back to the station. We took the trains back to town and then decided to go to WonderCon as a family. We saw tons of characters. Ricky hugged a few storm troopers, and we got some pictures and autographs with some stars. Then we headed back to the room and ordered some local pizza and watched tv shows from my computer.

Dirty

2008-02-13T15:00:00.002-05:00

So earlier this week, I finally broke down and bought a copy of Windows XP Pro. FOR MY MAC.

That's right, Using Apple's BootCamp software, I will be able to boot my new MacBookPro as either a Mac, or a PC. I will be setting the PC partition up as basically a CAD workstation from work.
I am getting VPN setup here at the office, so the hope is that this summer (and maybe sooner :( ) when I need to work on the weekends, or late into the evening, I can do it from home instead of walking to the office. That will let me spend more time with my family, plus still get some extra work done.

On the PC partition, I will have XP, NOD32 (antivirus), Outlook 2003, Office 2000, AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD 2000i.

And my XP disc is supposed to be delivered today. So tonight I get to do the whole setup for installing XP on my Mac.

And frankly, it makes me feel dirty.

Plans Change.

2008-02-10T10:54:00.001-05:00

We didn't go to Columbus yesterday. Some stuff came up, and we ended up being up too late. It turns out God had a plan. My dad called me. He was getting ready to take a trip, and was given a laptop by the company he has been giving talks for. That laptop didn't have software that he needed on it, and he couldn't find software. He couldn't find it, because it is my software. So Rachel, the kids and I drove over to his house and I set up his new computer for him, while he played with the kids. Then dad and I went out and cleaned out his truck so that he didnt have to worry about people breaking into his truck while it was parked at the airport.

Then we did some shopping, and had a nice meal at Bob Evans.

Long time no post

2008-02-08T14:54:00.001-05:00

I know, I know, it has been a while since I posted. Life has been busy. The boys and I were sick, I got a new laptop, and all the setup that involves. I set up the server in the basement so now it is our home automation, iTunes, PS2 media server, print server, and network storage drive. We had more water in the basement. And we are trying to get more involved in our Church. I am now running video a few times a month, and Rachel may be doing things soon for Drama.

I've also decided to sell my Vibe. I've only put 3000 miles on it since November of 2006. It is just a waste to keep such an expensive vehicle around and not drive it. We are taking it to CarMax tomorrow to get a quote from them to purchase it, if it is a good price I wil just sell it to them and not have to deal otherwise.

On the Fraternity front, we had a bunch of trouble finding a hotel for Conclave this year.

Well, I started this yesterday, so I probably should just send it.

Sent from mobile

Basement took some Water

2008-01-09T11:52:00.001-05:00

I was up till 2:30 last night mopping, flood proofing, and just generally cleaning up the basement. The rain really picked up around 10, and when I went down to check, found some trickles of water comin from a few of the walls. The front door jams leak like crazy into the basement, so I will have to investigate that soon. But basically, we had a 25 year storm, and the basement held up rather well. I think once we get the gutters fixed and properly channeling water away from the house, we should be in really good shape.
The dehumidifier cleaned up most of the water overnight, but my carpet under my desk got wet, so I need to figure out how to dry that out. Its standing on end now. None of my filing cabinets got wet, and I moved the fraterity one up into the living room for a few days. The only thing left to do is to get the spare fridge up on blocks and we can take 6" of water without a problem (well except the dehumidifier would be under water, may have to boost it up too).

Sorry to ramble, I am a bit tired. :)

Sent from mobile

Custr Map

2008-01-04T09:47:00.000-05:00

I saw this on another blog I read. It is a map that shows where all of your visitors come from. It is pretty sweet. Check it out on the right.

Sick

2008-01-02T12:05:00.000-05:00

I hate being sick. Spent most of the day yesterday on the couch, either asleep, or wishing I was asleep :).

Last week Rachel had a sore throat and kept loosing her voice. I was hoping that I wouldn't catch it, but sure enough, I woke up Monday with a sore throat, but we had a busy day going to Indy to pick up the G5 tower that I won on ebay, plus we wanted to go shopping. We cancelled lunch with some friends because I didn't want to get anybody sick.

But I woke up Tuesday feeling terrible. Like I said, spent most of the day on the couch.

Then Today, I turned my alarm off in my sleep and slept for an extra hour :(. I was at work by 8:45, but it was a cold walk in at 9 degrees(F) :). Looking forward to the walk home tonight.

Well, I have two packages coming today, so that should help brighten up my day :)

And the Kitchen continues

2007-12-29T20:32:00.000-05:00

My Dad came over today and this was my list of things I wanted to accomplish.

Remove old sink plumbing (drain and supply, and cap/plug for later).
Finish rough-in electric work for kitchen (at least so we could close up walls).
Fix outside brick/plaster wall
Put in drywall and mud first coat.
Look at electric panel for future upgrade
look at fancy metal backsplace
look into insulating basement windows.

We got everything done, except the last one, we talked about it, but didn't look at anything at the hardware store.

Tuesday I will put the second coat of mud on the drywall, and fill in some more holes on the brick/plaster wall.

Then I will start putting cabinets together :)

We should have it done by Febuary!!!!!!

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)

2007-12-22T23:28:00.000-05:00

I don't know how many of you have heard of this? You can read more about it at Laptop.org. Rachel and I's friend, Josh Parsell, chatted with me one day about OLPC's Thanksgiving promotion of "Give One, Get One". I investigated it, and after chatting with Rachel and talking and Praying about it, we decided to do it. What happens is that you buy 2 of the OLPC laptops. One of them gets sent to Africa, or some other third world country, and one gets sent to you. This is two fold. One is that it is a neat way to get people to help finance this program, and the other is so that OLPC can have people in the US that have the laptops to provide tech support for the children in developing countries.

Basically, you get to write off one of the laptops on your taxes, and you get to keep one for you. So as I said, after Rachel and I prayed about it, we decided to buy two of the deals. This was back in November, and they had told us that they didn't know if we would recieve our laptops by Christmas or not. We weren't in any rush, as we weren't getting them for Christmas presents anyways.

Well, long story even longer ;), we got home from the Nead family Christmas, and found a large heavy box on the front porch. Now, mind you, this isn't unusual with Rachel's ebay habit, but we were perplexed none-the-less.

I get it inside and open the box, and inside are two of the laptops. Now as anyone who knows me would realize, I got a bit excited :).

So we unboxed one of them, and got it up and running for Ricky, then got the other one open and set it up for Wes. Of course one of the instructions is that infants are not to use it.

Well, ok, its late, and I need to head to bed, as we have Church tomorrow, then the Johnson Extended Family Christmas in Cincinnati tomorrow.

Unboxing pictures are at photos.johnsoax.com

Back Home

2007-11-03T23:43:00.001-04:00

Fall Gathering is over. Some of the chapter and National officers have headed for home (me being one of them).

I have a few pictures up on my flickr page. Once I figure out Youtube (won't let me post for some reason), I will have some video's up also.