^Doogie's Ramblings

Onkyo SR-TX706 HDMI Issues?

2011-06-18T16:38:00.005-05:00

Well, I tried to make some tweets about this in the hopes that they'd be discoverable on google but I guess that didn't work quite the way I expected it to.

So... I'll share it here which should be more search-engine friendly...

I just successfully fixed my Onkyo SR-TX706 A/V receiver after experiencing weird HDMI handshake issues, and (eventually) the inability to watch 1080P sources.

The symptoms, for me, were:

HDMI sync either doesn't work at higher resolutions (1080P) or takes a LONG time, with random colored static when sync finally happens.
In the mornings when first turning on the AVR, I would have to wait 10-15 minutes for the unit to 'warm up' before any HDMI sources would work (system falling back to analog source, or showing "no signal" for the selected input)
This problem progressively became worse until eventually I couldn't use ANY 1080P sources like a BluRay player or my WDTV in 1080P mode. 480P still seemed to work fairly consistently though (I'm assuming due to lower 'bandwidth' requirements)

Here's the original thread about similar issues on the TX606:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1246078

...I can confirm that the same fix applies and works for the 706, although the board layout is slightly different on the 706 and has more of the capacitors that need replaced.

Onkyo 706 -specific info:

Replace these 4 capacitors on top of the hdmi daughterboard (I colored them blue so you can see them more easily):

and these 8 on the bottom of the HDMI board:

... w/100uF 10V 105° ones. The original capacitors are surface mount capacitors which are hard to solder for the average home user. As long as they're the right specs, you can use higher temperature-rated (105°C), traditional radial electrolytic capacitors.

I was able to find the capacitors at MCM Electronics for less than $20 shipped:

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/31-6850

(when ordering >10 pieces, the price reduces to < 60c each)

Hope it helps someone with similar issues! Good luck! Sure beats going out and buying a new AVR for $400-$500. After the fix my AVR works flawlessly again.

2010-03-04T11:07:00.001-06:00

I will not treat as confidential any communication you send to me by electronic mail or otherwise. I have no obligation to refrain from publishing, reproducing, or otherwise using your communications in any way and for any purpose.

...I just wanted to make that clear. So, next time you send me an email with a catch-all privacy statement in the footer, please note that once it's in my inbox, all bets are off.

Thanks!

Ed Elfed us!!

2007-12-12T00:52:00.000-06:00

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1320943101

What he said...

2007-12-06T23:42:00.000-06:00

http://www.democratdad.com/my_weblog/2007/12/an-atheist-repo.html

Mitsubishi sucks, as does Fry's Electronics.

2007-11-15T09:04:00.000-06:00

So here I sit, awaiting the delivery of the replacement TV that Mitsubishi promised me I'd be getting by the end of August (Mine's only been broken since May... no biggie)

"Hmmm" I think as I wake this morning. "Something doesn't feel right."

My spidey senses were telling me - as I recalled the 5 (seriously) managers that stood around at Fry's on that cool Tuesday night last week, trying to figure out how to "work the system" in order to do both a pickup AND a delivery for a replacement (something I'm sure they do A LOT) without having to create two charges in the system - that maybe, just maybe, Fry's wouldn't be coming to my house today.

I called them, not more than 10 minutes ago.

Look, here... Instead of editorializing, I'll just go ahead and post a transcription. Then, when I'm done posting it, I'm just going to calmly back away from the computer and find my calm place.

-----------------
Me: Hi! I'm calling to make sure that you guys are delivering to me today, I didn't get a confirmation call yesterday
Donkey: OK... Yeah they normally confirm the day before... Do you have an MDR number?
Me: No.. but I have the invoice number.
Donkey: OK... what is it?
Me: {involce number}
Donkey: Hmmm. Can you tell me again?
Me: { i n v o i c e n u m b e r }
Donkey: Hmm, nothing's pulling up. When was it supposed to be delivered?
Me: Today
Donkey: From 9-1 or 1-5?
Me: Between 9 and 1
Donkey: OK, well there's only one delivery today, so you're good
Me: So that delivery is for me?
Donkey: Yeah, there's only one.
Me: What city is it going to?
Donkey: I'm not sure, sir... but I only see the one delivery.
Me: And it's definitely for me?
Donkey: Yes sir.
Me: OK... what's my name again?
Donkey: (nervous laugh) er... heh... I'm not sure. I mean... if they told you today, there's only one delivery, so you're good to go
Me: There's a reason I'm calling... I don't think the delivery has been set up.
Donkey: {asserting himself...} ahem.. What's your name sir?
Me: {name}
Donkey: Hold on sir...

{wait about 5 minutes}

Donkey: Mr Hobbs?
Me: Yes?
Donkey: Sir, I'm not seeing it on our delivery schedule, so let me find out what's happening and I'll call you back...
-----------------

Have a good day. Seriously. I know mine is going to be AWESOME.

Jott.com

2007-10-09T15:58:00.001-05:00

I'm creating this blog using my voice using a service called Jott. Just call Jott with your phone and it translates your voice into text. Then you can have that text sent to your blog, anybody that you set up, and other online services. Pretty cool.

Powered by Jott

(OK so I had to make some corrections to the post :) - Still a cool service / concept though.)

Picasa

2007-08-30T22:58:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd give Picasa Web Albums a whirl... been using Picasa for a while but never ventured into the online piece much...

These are the pics from our recent trip to DC. Enjoy!

Your cellphone carrier is listening...

2007-07-23T21:42:00.000-05:00

eeeeenteresting....

Level 70, Bait 'n switch, and A much needed Vacation...

2007-05-21T12:12:00.000-05:00

Wow, look at that... 3 months? I rock at this blogging stuff. Sure, I COULD post every day, every week, or even every month, but I wouldn't want to cause an unnecessary burden on my avid readers. I'm so damn considerate!

So let's see... World of Warcraft is the first order of business, since it's the first thing I thought of.

Level 70
Burning Crusade was a great addition to the game, from what I've seen of it (which is actually VERY little) and provided me with a couple of extra months of entertainment.

I hit level 70 this past weekend, however, and it was frighteningly underwhelming. My mind wandered back to the days of Sonic the Hedgehog or Mario World where at the end, I'd get to see my game's hero flying through the skies accompanied by down-tempo numbers from the game played on a general midi piano synth and lots of scrolling asian names like Hayao Nakayama and Yuji Naka, none of which are memorable but provide me with the brief notion that actual people put effort into producing said game before I put it back on the shelf to gather dust.

Not long after the expansion came out, I transferred back off of a realm where I was a member of a raiding guild, to my original realm where I first starting playing with the Fisn N Chips crew (and real life friends) - I'd gotten tired of being reminded every time I logged on that I wasn't even halfway as hardcore as I needed to be in order to keep up with the rest of the guild, and I was having a hard time finding others that shared my casual attitude and pace. (Most of these guys power leveled to 70 in less than 2 weeks, essentially removing the pleasure of absorbing the new world and submersing oneself in the really nice storylines that were created for the expansion)

Anyway, since then I've played extremely casually, maybe once or twice a week, and have spent the majority of that time either PUGing through one or two early instances, or soloing throught quests and concentrating on reputation and crafting. The Fish n Chips guild is very small, there's only ever a maximum of about 6-7 players online at once, with half of them being lower level toons or people's alts. This is a stark contrast from being in a raiding guild, where you don't get to see the light of day unless your level is maxxed out along with your gear, and every time you hop on you're somehow obligated to join whatever raid is happening. Both setups have their challenges, I either can't do the smaller stuff because the raiding guild is whining or questioning my loyalty or devotion, or I can't do the bigger stuff because the guild is simply too small or there aren't enough people on. It'd be nice to get to see some of the cooler instances and raid instances in burning crusade but I don't really see it happening, which makes me wonder - Why am I playing this game? Sure, it can be fun, but now I'm at 70, with no desire to roll another character and do the same stuff all over again, what am I in it for? I'll be thinking about it quite a bit over the next few weeks and possibly re-evaluating whether I really want to spent $15 a month on this game any more.

Bait 'n switch
As I logged into the GRS system at work (I must have been doing some testing or something, or maybe I was just looking to punish myself that day) I was presented with a fantastic internal ad: "ALASKA CRUISE 349PP - SEE xxxxxx" - With our 10 year wedding anniversary coming up, this is something (Alaskan Cruises) I'd been wanting to look into for a while. We loved our Cozumel cruise and knew we wanted to go on others, so this seemed too good to not check out. I called our internal vacations lady (who this deal was posted by - let's call her 'Switchy') and yeah, it was true. $349 per person for a 7-day cruise from Anchorage down to Vancouver. I pulled the trigger and made the first of my two payments with a credit card. After taxes and fees etc, I was told, the total would be around $1100. Seemed like a fantastic deal for an all-inclusive vacation for two for 7 days. Switchy told me it would be a good idea to buy the cancellation insurance too. "If you have kids, you never know..." she said. "If you need to cancel at least you'd be able to get your money back". Seemed like a good idea. I think the insurance was $75 per person or thereabouts. Seemed like a good bet. We were also going to need transportation from Anchorage to Seward, since the airport and seaport are a fair distance from each other. Switchy told me that there was a transfer service for $45 per person if we wanted to use it, but that it was actually a very nice drive if we wanted to rent a car. I figured I'd defer that decision until later.

A couple of days later I received my invoice in the mail. - For $1400. Hmmm... I knew the taxes were more than a hundred dollars each so I tried for a while to figure out how 350-450 or so multiplied by two came to a grand total of $1400. I didn't have to try for long because on further inspection it was right there on the invoice - $549 per person plus taxes. I called Switchy and asked about the invoice, obviously there had been some sort of error. "Oh no... I told you on the phone, there were no $349 fares left, so I gave you the $549 fare... you remember, right?"

Well, I might not have the best memory in the world but that's certainly NOT what was discussed on the phone. I was pissed, but all in all it was still reasonably good for a 7 day vacation for two (although I was less impressed this time)

Days and weeks passed, and we discovered that we were going to have issues finding someone to take the kids during that time. Emily and I were actually going through a pretty rough patch and were arguing a lot, we had a lot of other stuff going on which was stressing us out, mostly around children, money, our relationship - the usual stuff, and we decided it was for the best that we just cancel the cruise, save the money, and not have to worry about finding someone who could take our children and all the issues and medicines etc that come with them. (more on that some other time)

No worries, I got the insurance. We have kids, these things come up. That was the exact reason I bought it right? I emailed Switchy to ask her what it would take to cancel the reservation. She called me that same morning. "I went ahead and cancelled it for you, and you'll be receiving $840 back to the card."

I think I was probably silent for a half a minute or so while the information permeated my cerebrum. "$840?"

"Yeah, the insurance covers the $840, you'll have to make a claim for the remainder"

"OK, What's the claim process?"

Switchy told me that the claim process was very similar to an auto insurance claim, whereby if I provided enough evidence about my inability to travel - you know, due to a burned down house, two broken legs, a death... that sort of thing - and that claim was approved, they'd refund 75% of the remainder.

More silence

"I'm assuming not being able to get babysitters isn't covered"

"Oh, no way... but you know, at least you got some of the money back"

I was fuming. I hadn't told her to cancel the cruise, I'd asked her to call me to talk about it. As it was, the cruise had been canceled and I'd lost about $500. The insurance was sold to me as a cancellation policy whereby I'm guaranteed my money back for whatever reason I decide to cancel. I'm actually surprised I managed to stay calm but I did... I made it quite clear that I'd not told her to cancel the reservation and she did eventually manage to 'cancel the cancellation', if that makes sense. There was no way I was going to just throw $500 down the toilet.

I managed to re-convince Emily that this cruise was much needed, that we were going to go on it and have a good time no matter what, and that we'd find a way to make babysitting work. She slowly came on board over the period of a week or so and when we both were fully committed again, we began to make plans. Flight to Seattle, Hotel in Seattle, Flight to Anchorage, Rental car in Anchorage (we'd actually decided that we would take the bus but Switchy's price this time around was $88 - double the originally quoted price - seeing a pattern here?), Flight from Vancouver to DFW....

All in all I think my $349PP ALASKA CRUISE will probably look more like $1200PP ALASKA CRUISE - What a complete farce.

I am, however, looking forward to A much needed Vacation...

Online poker is back in my life

2007-02-05T17:10:00.000-06:00

After MANY online poker rooms closed to US residents following the enactment of the SAFE Port Act, there was an exodus of many, many, many [bad] players to some of the more quality poker rooms like UltimateBet and Bodog (My usual stomping grounds). - With the arrival of so many refugees, the number of bad beats and illogical poker plays increased exponentially and so I grew quite tired of playing online. As such, I hadn't played for a good time.

Strangely enough, the shutdown of money transfers to the remainder of the online poker rooms using Neteller (probably the MOST popular way to fund your online accounts) in January actually, I think, made depositing money in online rooms sufficiently inconvenient for the hoi polloi that the total number of players has reduced considerably. Thus, the quality of play has risen again, somewhat. Sure, there are still MANY donkeys playing, but their numbers are much more manageable now.

It's a fantastic thing when you can sit down at a table with 2, maybe 3 donkeys on it, since you know you can make money from them, but when you sit at a 9-player table, and are faced with 8 donkeys, you may as well go back to playing slots.

To cut a long story short, I made a deposit exactly a week ago today, and have in that time tripled my money. It feels good to do that again because for a while there the incogitable amount of bad beats was having a big impact on my confidence as a reasonably good player. I'd gone, in the past year, from 90% chance of profit every time I deposited, to a 95% chance of complete loss with every transaction. (At least for the last 3 or 4 months)

So, I'm happy to say that I believe online poker is a credible pastime again and I intend on playing quite a bit more. I joined Ed this weekend also for some free play at the Lodge in Dallas which was a lot of fun. Legend has it that it's the 'best free game in Dallas' - and I'm inclined to believe that. However, it's still a free game, and is still only as good as its worth. I do intend on going again at some point, as it's always nice to mix it up with real people and practice real table patience, feeling those cards and chips, and trying to get reads on people and their habits. Something you definitely lose when playing online.

I feel another trip to Choctaw coming on :)

Halfway to 60

2007-01-20T22:37:00.000-06:00

Oy vey.

According to one of my co-workers, yesterday wasn't just my 30th birthday. It was officially the day I was halfway to 60 years old :)

I have to say, normally I kind of lay low during birthdays - I'm not particularly fond of people 'fussing over me' and getting too much attention, but yesterday, in all honesty, was probably the best birthday I've had in many years. When I got to work I was welcomed by balloons at my desk, a card with messages from everyone, and a gift from the ringleader and my "work-wife", Misty. I was escorted to lunch at Kincaid's (just to ensure that my arteries feel like they're 30 years old too) and a good time was had by all. I was actually pretty happy to be 30 for some reason.

I think it really was an eye-opener for me too. For the past... well, for the past 10 years I guess, I've always been the 'pup' at work. Surrounded by my seniors, I've always been very aware of the fact I've been the youngest of the group. Even at my most recent job I was - if not the youngest - one of the younger members of the team. Yesterday the number of people who let me know that they're "right behind me" - or a couple of years younger - was actually very surprising. I guess of course it's a glaringly obvious natural progression but for once I actually feel that I'm surround by a very appropriate mix of people older, younger, and the same age as me. Of course I do realize this just means that in years to come that "older" faction will thin out as some of them wither away from old age and get replaced by teeny-boppers, but for now I'm really quite satisfied with my age.

When I got home from work, Rowan and Camden were anxious to meet me with hand made cards, which is just about the best thing a dad can ever receive (until they're driving my car, then I just want them to fill it with gas occasionally) and Emily had made a fantastic chocolate cake.

Dave, one of the usual poker crowd I kick around with, just bought a house with his fiancée, and my birthday also marked his first hosting of our home game yesterday. It's seriously been a long time since I played poker with real flesh and blood opponents and I don't think I've ever been more eager to sit down with chips and throw cards around.

I didn't do terribly well from a poker perspective (although I think I managed to build a nice reputation for myself) but it was a really fun night that ended WAY too late (around 4am, with me getting back home around 5). Ed surprised me with a gift, a poker book he and I have been talking about recently, and while I was distracted, he also managed to sneak a very cool poker cake out from someplace, adorned with mini-cards representing our favorite suck-out-and-win-a-lot hands [J-8 (autowin) and 8-3 (snowman 'tater-legs)] in a showdown, chips and all. I wasn't expecting anyone to do anything for my birthday except maybe try a little harder to take my money (it didn't take much trying last night though) so Ed certainly suprised me there and made the night something extra :) Thanks Ed!

So... overall, a really good birthday. Today Emily allowed me to spend a surprising amount of time in bed, to recover from an aggregation of SEVERAL late late nights this last week, and by the time I was actually up and about and useful (shamefully, probably not until about 3pm) I was able to muster just enough energy to do some mucking around with the kids. Now all that's left to do is to have a nice relaxing evening with her, watching a movie or something. It was nice to be able to play poker last night but now I gotta get my wife fix too :)

Did I mention, for the first time in a long time... I actually feel pretty great! Wow. Who'd have thought something as traditionally depressing as a landmark birthday could have such a positive effect? :)

It's official, I'm a rebel.

2007-01-16T00:32:00.000-06:00

Yes, that's right. I'm not in the line at Wal-Mart behind 200 pubescent others waiting feverishly for my copy of The Burning Crusade, the next installment and must-have expansion for the World of Warcraft. Was I tempted to get in my car and go get my copy RFN*? Sure. A little. But my practical side kicked in. I have gift cards to use at Best Buy. Of COURSE they'll have copies tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, etc. Of COURSE they won't be sold out. After all, it's not a Nintendo Wii or Playstation 3. People are DYING to get their hands on one of those.

We seem to know how to stock the shelves with software, after all. Hardware, that's another story.

I suppose I could try to get the expansion for $10 cheaper too, and pick it up at Fry's. But then I'd be without a manual, game key, game media, or some other essential item that a forward-thinking Fry's employee has already surreptitiously taken home and listed on eBay for a bargain price.

So yeah, call me a rebel, but I'm not rushing out just yet. I'll wait it out a couple days, maybe pick it up over the weekend. I think a few years ago I'd have been at the back of that line, shuffling along with my ankles in shackles, waiting to receive my ladleful of digital gruel with the rest of the inmates, but here I am, being all pragmatic and stuff. Likely for the same reason I'm not using my $100 worth of Best Buy gift cards to buy this badass Samsung 22" widescreen LCD panel, instead convincing myself that I'll just be better off buying the Acer equivalent, which is $70 cheaper and seems to have a better contrast ratio but a crappier stand. I realize that I could run into Best Buy tomorrow and pick up the Samsung and I'd get immediate gratification, but using $100 of free money to save only $30 over a similar product doesn't seem to make sense to me. I guess it would be too much to ask that Best Buy carry a better assortment of products. - Or that newegg accept Best Buy gift cards for payment :)

Today I worked from home, due to "inclement weather". And by inclement weather I mean below freezing, with precipitation. An everyday occurrence this time of year for about 30% of the world but for some reason here in North Texas, we can't quite cope with it. It happens at some point pretty much every year yet it's always impressively devastating, with people sliding all over the place, slamming on brakes and bouncing off of each other while sliding gracefully over a slick overpass. There's always the amusing images on TV of the guy who can't figure out why flooring the gas in his unladen rear-wheel-drive pickup truck doesn't seem to be moving him in a forward direction. "Maybe the wheels aren't spinning fast enough, how can I apply more gas?"

...I just hope tomorrow is equally as devastating. I could actually get to like this working from home business :)

* Right F***in' Now

WoW Downloader woes

2007-01-10T21:48:00.000-06:00

Seems like every time it's time to download a patch for World of Warcraft, the crappy P2P downloader has a problem on my machine. Although, yes, I hate the P2P downloader with a passion (P2P essentially murders my VoIP phone line during the download period, and for about an hour or so afterward as poorly updated clients with my IP still listed bang the crap out of my internet connection waiting for an answer - "You were there 30 minutes ago!! Where the hell are you now??") - It's not actually the downloader that's the problem. It's my Linksys router. It's severely lacking in features - it barely skims the surface of the plush functionality of my previous, now defunct, WebRamp device.

For some reason on this particular device, the WRT54GP2, a dual-line VoIP wireless router, Linksys didn't feel that I needed the ability to reserve DHCP IPs for specific MAC addresses so that my 'flagship' machines have a guaranteed address. No problem, just hard code an IP on those machines right? That'd be fine if Charter's DNS servers didn't seem to change every month or so.

Anyways, I figured I'd give this INCREDIBLY poorly documented 'port triggering' crap a run for its money and well, what do you know, it works. Hopefully now it won't matter what IP I have. When the downloader starts requesting connections, the router will automatically set up forwarding to the IP I'm currently using. Greatness.

Here's the configuration for the WoW downloader in case it's of use to anyone:

I walk the line

2006-07-27T13:26:00.000-05:00

Let's start with the positive. 207lbs today. 11 pounds down from my starting point and 7 pounds left to lose in just about 5 weeks. The few hiccups I've made along the way hurt my momentum and overall weight loss, and to lose 7 pounds in 5 weeks at the rate I'm going now is going to be a change of pace. Eating at Kincaid's today was probably not the best decision I've made in a while - but I've been doing well for a while now too so I won't beat myself up about it. I'm still determined to meet my goal, but if I don't I need to remember to be pretty stoked to have made progress, and to just set another goal and strive to meet it.

The bad stuff? Selling your house sucks. Having to be prepared at all times to up and leave while making sure the kids don't tear the place up for a prospective buyer sucks. Staying out of the house all weekend to avoid the aforementioned scenario also sucks. Texas is HOT. Especially right now. Houses that are in foreclosure are a good bargain, but they frequently have no electricity thus no A/C. There are probably some houses we've looked at that, if I was comfortable while walking around them, I may well have fallen in love with. But it's hard to feel amorous toward an inanimate object when it's 105 degrees in the shade and you've been out all day with kids running around screaming.

What are we to do if we find a house we love anyway? (We've already been in this situation so it's a rhetorical question) We can't / aren't prepared to make an offer on the place when we don't know when ours will sell. The market our current house is in right now is saturated, and it's driven prices down to rock bottom. We've set our house at a price which is competitive, but when the competition drop their prices even more in response, what are we to do? Start digging into our equity that we earned and invested in? Take a loss? I guess that depends on how badly you want out. The competition who have already had their house on the market for 100 days or more are way more desperate than us, I'd wager... and that has a negative effect on MY bottom line too.

What's crazy is we're moving out of a neighborhood / city which is slanted in favor of the buyer, with prices dropping based on increasing development and availability - and we're wanting to move to an area where homeowners seem pretty free and able to set their own prices. Even when you fall in love with a place, it's hard to walk into something knowing that the person you're buying it from JUST purchased the place 3 months prior, and has done nothing other than shampoo the carpet and jack up the price by $50k just because they can. Ugh.

So, it's stressful. With the house buying / selling, the new job, and two new projects on my lap, as well as 2 or 3 other things I don't care to get into right now, I feel that I'm at a breaking point.

What's my coping mechanism you ask? Shit! I don't know! I don't have time to create mechanisms! Can't someone do that for me?

Right now I'm just concentrating on walking the tightrope... I'm watching the rope in front of me, making very slow advances forward, and keeping balance; For all I know the world around me might be in chaos - I can't take my eyes off the rope just yet so I have no idea. Sometimes voluntary tunnel vision is a good thing. There is no net.

In the style of the 8 year old me

2006-07-10T13:48:00.000-05:00

I figured since I don't have a ton of time to write detailed updates, I'd just write one in the style I used in my diaries when I was a nipper:

This weekend we went to the aquarium. It was fun. We ate lots of food afterwards at Ojedas. We're selling our house. People looked at it this weekend. I hope someone buys it soon.

...Enjoy.

215 lbs, After a HORRENDOUS week of not eating well. Here's hoping it's just water weight :)

I'm no punk

2006-07-05T12:03:00.000-05:00

Look, you may as well go ahead and read this now, you won't get the chance when you're being hauled away and it's already too late.

211 lbs. Bad weekend, Holiday... Don't ask.

Poker tomorrow

2006-06-29T16:57:00.000-05:00

It was Ed's birthday this week and so since we've all been itching to play again I decided it was time to host another poker game at my place. Lo and Behold! The 1st Annual Ed Mayhall Poker Extravaganza is born! It's going to be incredible. There will be stacks and stacks of cash and prizes to be won, we're having naked dancing ladies, some clowns, midgets, and exploding dogs.

Well, we'll play some poker at any rate.

Look for image posts in my Flickr space; I'll try to take some shots as the evening progresses and post them online realtime (Not that anyone in the ether will see that but it makes me happy)

212 lbs today. Two days ago I was 210 but me eating at the Indian buffet yesterday has shown an immediate impact (when I have bad days for some reason my weight jumps up like 3 pounds then 'recovers' again) - I'm right where I should be to meet my goal of 200 by September 1st. I have to say I'm really glad I'm tracking my progress visually against a goal line because if that weren't the case, I'd have given up already more than a couple times. For instance, you go to a family reunion, you eat poorly, you come back home and weigh yourself and realize you've really damaged the momentum of your weight loss progress. Disappointment, Annoyance, and the desire to pig out. This is the part where I'd normally quit. Slap the numbers on the chart though and all of a sudden it's easy to realize that you're still doing pretty well overall and the trend is still moving in the right direction. There's still a chance to recover. It's a dorky support mechanism but it's working OK.

Blogging on the go...

2006-06-10T13:47:00.000-05:00

I'm writing this sitting on a 50 seater plane just landed in Houston for Emily's family reunion. I'll be posting pics to flickr while we're away, so be sure to check them out.
I have to say I've REALLY embraced the whole mobile internet thng. It's FINALLY actually usable and useful. Look at how far we've come ! just yesterday I was SSH'd into telnet.org from my phone, and tomorrow I'll be checking in for our return flight on my phone/pda. Fun stuff.

Poker Tournament Results

2006-06-05T09:29:00.000-05:00

Well... I lasted longer than Bill and Phil but I didn't win :)

Was great fun though. Actually I think Phil Hellmuth was the 2nd to go out - a victim of Songo - in an rather unimpressive sequence of events for him ($200 to him is like, what, less than a penny to me?) and Bill wasn't far behind (another notch for songo) - In fact, Songo pretty much cleaned house until neuboy started cleaning up too late in the game. I managed to hold on until 4th place at which point I went all in after flopping 2 pair - Against neuboy's flopped trips :) The rest is history.

It was a fun event. There was lots of badmouthing and joking around at the beginning and Bill Fillmaff provided plenty of laughs before Phil finally showed up (only a minute late - Not bad for him.)

I guess Ed and I need to start working on the next contest at BillvsPhil. Making a movie. We'll have to see about that one... The trip to vegas to play live with the pros sounds like fun though :)

Times Old Roman?

2006-06-05T09:17:00.000-05:00

Thank the heavens. I HATE Times New Roman. Find me a document I've EVER written that used that hideous font and I'll give you a lollipop.

Stuck at 214.5lbs... I'm still tracking below my "goal" line if I'm to reach 200 by September 1st, so I'm doing well (yes, I'm graphing my progress in a spreadsheet, cos I'm such a dork) but the fact that right now my "actual" line is horizontal, and heading right FOR that goal line is worrying. Early days yet though.

Poker tournament with Phil Hellmuth!

2006-05-31T08:50:00.000-05:00

Woot!

Ed entered a pic of us he'd 'crafted' a while back into a competition on the Bill vs Phil website. As a result we both won entry into a private 10-player tournament on Friday night with Phil Hellmuth and Bill Fillmaff! Can't wait! I'm hoping that if I can't win, I can at least bust either Bill or Phil out with a textbook donkey move to get their blood boiling and make them remember my name ;)

down to 214.5lbs already - Kind of a big move today... must be mostly water. (Not that I'm complaining)

Stock Photography Clichés

2006-05-29T21:10:00.000-05:00

I just love this:

Top ten stock photography cliches

Weight Loss Time

2006-05-29T13:07:00.000-05:00

OK, I'm sick of it. Today it begins. Every time I blog I'll be posting my weight. It keeps creeping up and up on me and it's getting old. So here it ends. Today I'm 218lbs, the heaviest I've been for probably a year or more. Earlier this year I'd worked it down to around 210 but it's crept back up again as it inevitably does.

So, WWCalc is installed on the PDA (again) and it says I'm allowed 24-29 points per day. Having tried this before I know that in real terms it's VERY easy to burn up those points in very short order. (For example, a Chicken Sandwich at Chilis - from the Guiltless Grill section, no less - is 10.5 points, the same as a BMT Classic 6" sandwich from Subway) It's hard work and I'm sure on some days I'll fail. But I'm determined to stay in for the long haul. I've seen friends do extremely well on the WW points system and I've done well on it myself, in the past. I just have to stick with it.

So... My short-term goal - Shit, let's even slap a date on it - 200lbs, by September 1st.

Long term? Let's go for 175. I'll determine a date when I see how well I do on my first goal.

Wish me luck, and don't forget to send me words of encouragement, or tell me off if/when you see those numbers getting back up there.

Flickr Integration

2006-05-15T15:18:00.000-05:00

As you can see in the right-hand column, I just added a link to recent flickr uploads for your enjoyment. I figured I'd try using the flickr email upload tool from my phone so I can keep almost a moblog as I snap things I think are interesting or just because I'm bored :)

Enjoy!

Across the pond, and back again

2006-05-12T22:42:00.000-05:00

The passports found their way to our mailbox at 1:30PM on Wednesday. We checked in at the airport around 3PM :) Talk about cutting it fine!

Everything went without a hitch after that point - they had some trouble finding us 4 adjacent seats on the plane since we were flying standby but they managed to at least get us 2 sets of 2 seats, so Em and I tag-teamed the kids and the 10 hour journey out was pretty uneventful. When we arrived on Thursday we got a cab to the car rental place - Practical Car Hire (highly recommended if you're visiting the UK) to pick up our car. It was a brand new (only 5k miles) Ford Mondeo diesel... A really nice car, I think it ended up costing about £170 per week (which is a great deal) including insurance, tax, and all that stuff that doubles the cost of the car when you rent one in the UK. We did have a bit of a problem getting the car though. See, there are two charges involved in renting the car. A deposit, for £500, and the actual cost of the car. They run them through the credit card machine as two seperate transactions, because at the end of the period, the £500 charge is refunded. Well, it seems Capital One sees large transactions in a foreign country as a fraud red-flag (rightly so) so after the first transaction went through, the card was cut off. Awesome! No problem, we'll use Amex. - NOT. There are actually very few places in the UK that take Amex short of very large retailers. We did get it figured out in the end, even though Capital One's systems were down for updates so they couldn't help us... so much for 24/7 customer service.

The 4 day visit went super fast, we met with our American friend Amy on Friday - she recently moved to the UK - and we spent the day in Stratford-upon-Avon (birthplace of Shakespeare and, well... most of my mother's family), with a trip to the butterfly farm being the highlight of the day for the kids.

Saturday was my sister Sarah's wedding, and it was an all-day affair. We started early and ended late; much food and drink was consumed, the kids managed to fight their way to being awake until well after midnight, and we got to catch up with so many people we haven't seen for a long time. It was an awesome day and my sister looked really beautiful (ok, enough of the mushy stuff now)

Sunday came and went, we got to visit with Dad and Brenda, had a post-wedding lunch buffet which was great, and by Sunday night we were well exhausted, just in time to have to pack for Monday's journey home. On Monday our seats were assigned at check-in (no standby this time) and the journey home (on a bigger plane than the way over there) was mostly quiet and uneventful. It really felt good to get home, even if I did feel sad about once again leaving my UK family behind. - I think it was less sad this time since I knew that going back soon was WELL within reach with my new flight benefits.

Back to work on Tuesday, with a major case of jetlag, and a nasty infection I caught on the plane on the way home :) (happens EVERY time!)

Waiting.....

2006-05-01T23:35:00.000-05:00

Well, we're scheduled to leave for the UK on Wednesday, and three of us are awaiting our passports in the good ol' US mail!

...Cross your fingers.

Kael'Thas in Stasis

2006-04-19T07:31:00.000-05:00

My WarCraft subscription expired last week. I decided I'd take some time between subscriptions to earn reputation with the Wife Faction as opposed to earning reputation for, say, the Timbermaw Hold. So far we've watched a couple of movies, and gone to bed a lot earlier more than a couple of times. Man, I can't tell you how much better I feel in the daytime when I actually get more than 4 hours of sleep. It's incredible. Who'd have thought?

I'm not sure when I'll continue the subscription. I mean, I DO feel it calling me with it's beautiful siren song (what's it been, like 4 days now?) but I'm going to stave it off as long as I can, at least until I'm revered and can buy nicer items from the wife vendor (bad Warcraft joke)

The Windy City

2006-04-18T21:24:00.000-05:00

So, one of the perks of my new job at AA is... well... I guess I'm not supposed to advertise it... but anyways... Last weekend Emily, Rowan, Camden and I flew to Chicago for the best part of the Easter weekend. We flew out late Thursday night, and came back on Saturday. We got a GREAT deal on a hotel at Hotwire ($80/night for a $150/night room) and we had a lot of fun. We didn't do anything breathtakingly drastic, but we had a great time nonetheless. On Friday we went to Navy Pier and rode the "big feckoff ferris wheel" as it shall now be known, and took a few rides on the carousel.

There was a LOT of walking involved and with a 2 year old in tow that got tough at times. Yeah, we should have lugged along the stroller but we actually got by pretty well with nothing but a pair of daddy's shoulders and some good old fashioned love and logic.

In the evening we decided we couldn't leave the Windy City without trying out some authentic chicago pizza pie, so we headed to Gino's East, a highly rated pizza joint with a lot of character, on Ontario and Wells in downtown Chicago. We ordered a combo platter for an appetizer, a frosty cold one for Daddy, and decided on a medium pepperoni supreme. We were kind of taken aback when the waiter told us it would take 40 minutes to make the pizza but when we saw it (40 minutes later would you believe) we kind of understood why. It was like a friggin' casserole!

We DID manage to put it all away somehow though with a lot of help from Rowan. Man it was good.

On the way back to the hotel we found a really huge, really cool McDonalds with all this memorabilia from various decades, and tons of fancy furniture ranging from fine italian sofas to those weird egg-looking chairs from the 70s. I couldn't help but notice this in the 80's display:

Lazer Tag! Too cool. This is the exact model I had when I was a young'un. Sans the hat of course... (I was never THAT cool)

So anyways... the hotel was great, the weather was real nice, and the kids actually did a great job considering all the walking we put them through :) Overall it was a really good trip.

Now we just have to decide where to go next ;)

New Year, New Job, New Drugs

2006-04-18T21:12:00.000-05:00

So yeah... what else has happened... Well, Christmas came and went, and 2006 rolled in. Rowan started on medication for his ADHD and after about 4 different drugs we've just (in the past month) found one that works to help him focus and control himself at school, while at the same time having no side effects (this last part has been the most tricky). I honestly can't stand the fact that my child is taking drugs for ADHD, but at the same time I see him doing so much better, he's able to achieve normal things in school that the other kids have always done, and he comes home happier, prouder, and full of confidence. His "smiley face sheet" (a half-hourly evaluation sheet I created for his teacher to give us feedback on how he's doing throughout the day) is frequently decorated with nothing but smiley faces, as opposed to frowny faces or accompanied with notes from the principal. So, so far, so good. He's doing great.

I left my job at Neiman Marcus on the 31st of March, and started work the next Monday at American Airlines. I'm on my third week there now and so far it's going well. Right now I'm beginning work on their very-near-future ATG to WebSphere migration. It's challenging, and enjoyable, and I'm honestly glad to feel once again like I'm using a much broader range of skills which I've missed using for some time.

I'll probably post more about all this stuff as I get time, but for now... that's all the information you need :)

Losing Granny

2006-04-18T20:42:00.000-05:00

Time to fill you in on what's been happening... It's been too long since I updated.

The week before thanksgiving 2005, I left for the UK as Granny had gotten really sick in hospital. The doctors asked that any family be with her as they didn't expect her to last that night. I got on a plane that same day and was at her side the next afternoon. When I walked in to see her she was very lucid (the opposite from the previous day) and immediately recognized me. We joked with each other - "What are you doing here?" we both asked each other (her in the hospital, and me in the UK) and we both got a chuckle out of that. I stuck around for 10 days, and saw her most every day, her condition worsening over that period. I got to hold her hand and just be around her which I'm glad I got to do. The last time I saw her, the day before my flight back, I got to tell her goodnight, and that I'd see her in the morning. Granny died in her sleep with my mother and brother at her side, about two weeks later, on December 8th 2005. I still can't believe she's gone. Living so far away from one's family is so difficult, and I can't begin to tell you how much guilt I have for not seeing her more often, or calling her more, or that she never got to meet my youngest son. I was always very close to both my maternal grandparents, and I'll always miss them tremendously.

Since the initial trip was so costly, I couldn't afford to go back for the funeral. I wrote the following for her funeral, however, and the vicar read it during the service at the church. I wish I could've been there but I'm glad I got to be a part of the service in some way anyway.

As children, we refer to the people around us with ‘cute’ versions of their names, like “Mummy” and “Daddy”. As we grow up we start to use the more ‘mature’ versions of those names, like “Mum”, or “Dad”.

As a teenager I’d hear my friends talk about their grannies as “Grandmother” or “Grandma”, which always seemed like a much more ‘grown up’ way to refer to one’s grandmother, but somehow, I felt, if I were to any other title, I would no longer be referring to Granny. She was Granny! Not Grandma, or Grandmother. Just Granny.

As we grow up, our relationships with siblings and parents changes a lot. We see each other grow and change and become the people we all are today. Annoying brothers and sisters become good friends with common challenges like raising children and making a living. Parents who you once rebelled against become more like peers too, and you begin to notice incredible similarities in them and yourself as you mature.

My relationship with Granny though, at least from my point of view, didn’t really change much over the years. To me, she was an unchanging rock. Always there, always the same, always Granny. As a child I don’t ever remember a time when going to Granny and Grandad’s house wasn’t great. There was always something to do there, whether it was playing in the water tank outside, whacking tennis balls for six over or into the hedge, playing a board game or some cards, doing a jigsaw puzzle, or just sitting and having a cup of tea, or maybe a peanut butter sandwich with some pickled onions. It was always a pleasurable experience. We never had to make an effort to have a good time. We were just happy to be there. It felt good, and safe, and happy.

I always remember when leaving their house as a child, granny would chase the car as we drove away, making us laugh till the last minute. We’d wave out of the back window as Granny and Grandad stood outside the house, waving back. I remember continuing to wave well after we’d disappeared behind the trees on White Horse Hill, thinking that they could somehow still see us and were still standing there, waving. I was sure sometimes they’d wave to us all the way home to Rugby, or at least until until I fell asleep in the car and stopped waving back.

Losing Grandad was devastating to me, although at the time, being the age I was, I found it all very confusing and strange. How hard it must have been for Granny to lose such a great man. I remember her making beds, dusting, and staying busy immediately after he died, pressing on like the trooper that she was. And press on she did, showing us all that life goes on even after a loved one has passed. Somehow, through it all, Granny didn’t weaken, but stayed strong. She also kept his spirit alive, in my eyes. Grandad died when I was 11, yet now, 17 years later, I never stopped thinking about them both as a unit.

As I grew older I did less jigsaw puzzles and stopped playing cricket out front, and my beloved water tank disappeared… but I still loved being at Granny’s house. It always still made me feel happy and safe, and I still didn’t have to make any effort to enjoy myself there.

It’s times like these I regret being so far from the people I love. I’m sorry I’m not there today to say my final farewell to Granny in person. In some ways today would have been my way to say goodbye to both Granny AND Grandad, since I was too young to say goodbye to him when he passed. I regret that my children won’t get to enjoy Great Granny’s company, and that they did not know her better. They will, however, benefit from the legacy she has left behind in me, and that’s character, steadfastness, and love. And, like she did so well for Grandad, I will keep her spirit alive.

I’m so sorry to see Granny go today, but happy that she is being reunited with Grandad. I know they’ll be taking care of each other again, and even though I can no longer see them, I’m still waving out of the back window. I know they’re both waving back.

My name is Jason and I'm a Warcraholic.

2005-11-14T20:49:00.000-06:00

This made me a little teary-eyed. I miss the days of really, REALLY good computer games like Monkey Island (1 thru 4, you pick), Sam and Max hit the road, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, or pretty much ANY of the LucasArts (née LucasFilm Games) adventures.

Although I'm lacking in the adventure game department these days, the times they are a-changin', and I'm hooked pretty hard to World of Warcraft.

Justin selected me as his bait for the 10-day free trial that Blizzard armed him with, and by gar it worked. It's just so... so damn addictive. The 10 enjoyable days ended as predictably as the sun rising in the east, and I handed over my credit card with mouth wide open when the trial expired.

I'm playing a Night-Elf hunter on Kael'Thas, and I'm loving the crap out of it. December 12 is when my initial month runs out and as of RIGHT NOW... it's an easy decision whether I'll be renewing or not. I hate that I'm committed to paying for a 'game subscription' but honestly, now that I'm fully submerged in the joy-batter.... It's worth every penny.

Sleep tight

2005-10-20T14:14:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure but I think I need one of these.

Hankerin' more of the same

2005-10-17T21:54:00.000-05:00

Well, Poker Night went really well. We had 2 newcomers to our game. Tim, a friend of Pat's (Pat didn't come) and Dave, a guy I met a good year or so back at an XBOX party my boss (now my director) threw. I remembered he loved poker so I figured he'd be a good game-hungry player to invite. They both had great attitudes and came for the fun, poker, and free drinks (courtesy of emily) and I believe a good time was had by all.

We had a relatively quick $10 tournament which, although scheduled to end around 12:00, actually ended closer to 10:30, with Justin in 3rd winning back his buy-in, Jordan taking 2nd place and $20, and newcomer Dave winning and taking the lion's share of the prize pool, a whopping $30. Not bad going.

After that was all done we played a $20 max buy-in .10/.20 ring game and it went on until the wee hours of the morning. At the end of the night, some were down, some were up, and some were even, but I think we all agreed that we'd all raked plenty of entertainment out of the night. It went so well I think I'm going to try to make it a bi-weekly affair. There are enough new folks interested that I don't think I'd have any trouble filling a 10-man tourney.

Anyways... good poker always leaves me hankerin' more of the same. I just need about 5 more people on 1 hour's notice and another $20 bill :)

P.S.

2005-10-14T11:05:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah... and I finished the tiling project. I'm not one to 'toot my own horn' but honestly, I did a fucking bang-up job. There. I said it.

Poker night

2005-10-14T11:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight is poker night at my place. I think I may try to take some pics of the 'event' and share them on the blog. Then again, I may be too consumed with trying to run a fair establishment to be focused on taking pics :)

6 players tonight, provided everyone who says they'd show up shows up. I think about 18 people were originally invited... the poker crew I run with tends to err on the side of flaky if they respond at all, so I'm doing all I can to beef up the group; 'flakeBuffer++' if you will.

Usually a good time is had by all at such engagements, whether money is made or lost. Hopefully tonight will not disappoint.

Buckling under the [Peer] Pressure

2005-10-07T13:25:00.000-05:00

ok, ok... I'll post something. I'll take time out of my BUSY BUSY day (I've been using my brain since 9am.. thinking about going home uses a lot of energy) to stop and post some arbitrary nuggets of trivia about what's currently going on around me and in my life. Let's see, where was I...

Well, Rowan has been officially diagnosed as having ADHD.

Now that we have an official diagnosis, the school system is, all of a sudden, able to provide us with additional assistance. They can actually NOW start to work with us to make Rowan's school life more productive and useful. Seems to me that the overstretched and underfunded school system we have at our disposal in this fine country can't really do anything to work through problems like ours without first getting some much needed funds. Diagnosing kids with ADHD seems like a ticket to receiving those funds... I can see why this might be becoming a disturbing trend. I have to battle my feelings about the whole funding issue because underneath it all I know that it's an accurate diagnosis of Rowan's condition. We've done all the things we're supposed to do, we've seen multiple psychologists, and we're simply not seeing the long-term improvements that need to happen. I could see, however, cases of kids with dyslexia, boredom, or just not being very smart, being misdiagnosed as ADHD just because the school kind of needs the additional assistance.

Stigma aside, it is what it is. It actually feels good to finally be getting some real, honest-to-goodness help from SOMEWHERE. We feel validated after 4 hard years of feeling frustrated and guilty about our parenting skills. We feel relief from the assistance that we're now getting. We feel hopeful that we'll be able to succeed in raising Rowan now we're getting the help of others.

Hillary Clinton was onto something when she coined the old saying 'It takes a village to raise a child'. Honestly, without getting the help we're starting to get now, I don't know how we could ever hope to be successful in raising Rowan.

So, 'behavior plans' are being created and disseminated, assistance from the school is coming (these things still take time), and evaluation of actions and progress will begin very soon. Medication may well be in the not-so-distant future, my opinions around which will be reserved for another post.

In other news, I'm currently tiling our laundry room. Matching existing tile in your home is tricky. Don't shop around, Don't try to find something that is close. Just find the manufacturer, call them, and order it no matter what the cost. Trust me on this one.

I should be done with the tiling project by Sunday. I'm hoping that we can adorn our new floor with a spunky new washer and dryer, since our washing machine reminds me, on a weekly basis, of the Simpsons episode "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" where the Simpson's old washer and dryer race against each other, vibrating across the floor in Moe's tavern at the end of the episode. This is not a new 'want' of mine; our washing machine has been this way for close to a year now. I think we got our money's worth out of it. However the only way I think I'll be able to convince the wife that this medium-sized investment is, indeed, a necessity at this time in our lives (I'm getting tired of taking turns to hold it down during the spin cycle) - is to... well, to "lose" the washing machine in a freak "I was just moving the washing machine when it dropped from an 8ft height, and now I'm trying to repair it with this mallet" accident.

If you only watch one piece of 'internet trash' this week, make sure it's the GI Joe episode "Give him the stick" from this collection. Enjoy.

Playing Catchup

2005-09-18T22:00:00.000-05:00

I've just been so busy lately; for some reason I have more desire these days to actually achieve some of the goals on the neverending list of domestic to-do's than ever before.

From installing attic fans to landscaping projects, self-servicing automobiles and painting old furniture, to tying off loose ends and selling "one day I'll do something with it" domain names.

Maybe it's my increasing dissatisfaction with work (which generally this last week went a lot better, albeit still painstakingly unsatisfying) that motivates me to be more successful and productive at home. Or maybe I'm just doing this stuff to avoid reality and procrastinate on decisions like "should my child be medicated for his impulsiveness which is blocking his ability to progress in school or should we 'wait it out' or try YET another parenting methodology"

Who knows. The good thing is, a lot of stuff is getting done.

The bad thing is, it seems this productiveness needs to be fuelled by a state of perpetual malcontent in other aspects of my life.

My wife and I, on the other hand, have been getting along very well for the past few weeks. Maybe it's related to the volume of crap I'm getting done at home :)

On The Beautiful, Blue Danube

2005-08-05T02:26:00.000-05:00

I know it sounds strange, but go ahead and try it, I think you'll like it.

When it's down to the final 3 on a tournament table, play Strauss' "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" on a pair of headphones nice and loud. It makes raking in the chips and taking out the other two guys THAT much more satisfying.

I always picture a movie where I'm playing at a circular poker table, with the Blue Danube playing very loudly on the soundtrack (no other audio) as the camera spins around the perimiter of the table, pointing toward the middle, and every time I come into shot I'm raking in chips, a big cigar drooping out of an uncontrolled smile, with the synchronized cymbal clashes celebrating each win.

I know, I'm over-dramatizing but hey you gotta get your kicks somewhere right? Online poker is boring :)

Death by Lethargic Injection

2005-07-27T09:41:00.000-05:00

The past three nights, maybe more, I've been getting home and going to bed at literally 8:45pm. Not by choice. I'm not talking about sitting there thinking "Hmmm I think I'll have an early night". I'm talking about my fate being dictated.

I'm finding in the evening I simply cannot function; I get home, eat with the family, bathe kids, hang with them for an hour or so, do some playing or what have you, and put them to bed shortly after 8:30. Normally that's the time I get to do my own thing but of late I put them to bed, walk down the stairs, and stumble into my bedroom, collapsing on the bed.

I liken my evenings to the image of the running-out-of-gas car that just manages to sputter into the gas station, engine spluttering and backfiring, finally cutting off right as it enters the boundary of the gas station, only to have to be pushed the remaining 10 feet to the pump. It's like, I'm able to stay awake JUST long enough to perform my fatherly duties, and then it's all over. I may or may not have time to disrobe before passing out. Somehow in the past week, I've gone from my lifelong ability of being able to get 3 hours of sleep per night and still do OK, to getting almost 12 hours per night and still not being able to make it thru the day. What changed?

I think in some bizarro world somewhere, my alter ego did something very bad in the last week, and as a result they tried to sentence him to death by way of lethal injection. The only problem is, someone picked up the wrong syringe; The one they used said "Lethargy" on it instead of "Lethal". I wonder how long it'll take before it wears off?

So... tired...

Family > All

2005-07-11T10:12:00.000-05:00

Right now my grandmother, "Granny" as she's known to me, is in the hospital. It's nothing terminal or anything, she's receiving treatment for an arthritic hip. She was at home watching TV and she found herself unable to get out of her chair.

Granny is and always has been a go-getter. She's always in the garden tending to her beautiful flowers, and only recently delegated the task of mowing her own lawn (a large one at that) to someone else. She's in her mid-eighties, lives on her own in a large two story house which she cleans herself, she still is very very independent. Recently her vision has started to deteriorate and she recently had cataract surgery, and lately her knee has been hurting from arthritis and she's been waiting for a knee replacement. I'm making her sound like a bit of a basket-case but she's never missed a beat, she's (up until this point) been very active.

I have nothing but fond memories of both of my grandparents - my grandfather, Austral, died when I was 9 or so I think. I remember his loss very vividly. He was a great man, and a fantastic grandfather aka "Grandad" or "Grandee". I remember playing cricket with him on their front lawn - the same lawn that Granny has tended all these years. We'd go on walks and picnics in the woods, climb million-foot ladders to the tops of gigantic trees, play with an assortment of random trinkets in his tool shed, from tools and toys, to things that he'd found on one of his walks and taken home. It was always an adventure. Probably one of the reasons I gave my first child his name. Rowan Austral Hobbs. I wanted a reminder of the adventures which it will now be my paternal duty to provide for my children - and I'm sure one day, their children too.

The loss of my Grandad was my first experience losing an immediate family member and affected me a great deal. I've since lost Uncles and Great Aunts, and Grandmother-in-laws, none of whom I've been particularly close to, and only one of which was in the same country as I am currently.

Granny, like Grandad, I also have nothing but fond memories of. She'd join in with the cricket games, she was always a provider of candy, tea, and fantastic dinners. She was always there with us on our rambles across country, helping us climb the ladders, stashing bags of conkers to give to us before all the other kids could get to them; and she always had a way of making us behave without having to shout or spank us. Not only did we WANT to behave for Granny, but we were just so busy having a good time that we didn't really have time to think about misbehaving.

So back to my point... Granny is now in hospital and has been for a couple of weeks. She will remain there for a couple more weeks, receiving physiotherapy, pain killer, soon the originally-planned knee replacement, followed by more physio and rehabilitation. They'll let her go home when she shows she's again able to climb the stairs and walk around freely without too much assistance - Although she'll now receive regular home-help. Knowing Granny that recovery time won't be long. Also knowing her lust for independence and activity I know it's really hard for her being cooped up in a hosptial ward. She wants to be at home, making her OWN cup of tea when she wants it, not having someone else make one for her when they think she should have one. She wants to sit outside and chat with her neighbors about the local gossip. She wants to feed her canary and watch the shows she likes on TV. She wants to do her own thing. She's probably sitting around thinking about all the things that need doing at home, being left undone.

It's times like these I wish I was there, just to pop in and say Hi. Just to brighten her day and give her my support. Is it wrong to feel so guilty for not being there? I'm at work trying to find some suitable flowers to send to her, knowing that they'll make her really happy when she gets them, but also knowing that it's just not enough. I want to go and see her more than anything. She hasn't met my youngest child yet. I know she'd love to see him. I'd love for them to meet.

I NEED to see my family.

Not everyone will understand it as a "need". Everyone is different when it comes to relationships, especially with family. But to me, my family is right up there on the scale of "important things" and "reasons for living". It tears me apart knowing that I can't just see them whenever I want to.

Dharma & Greg

2005-06-30T14:51:00.000-05:00

You know as a general rule, especially as this stage in my life, I kind of detest the TV. Movies I can handle to a certain degree but the TV is such an abuse of my time. There's just no value that comes from it these days.

Last night, however, I watched Dharma & Greg with my wife. You know, it felt good to laugh out loud for once. I seem to be so 'into' all the BS and negative shit in my life right now that I have been neglecting to laugh. I always thought Dharma & Greg was kind of a lame show but damn it, it's just funny. Thanks Dharma & Greg, for showing me the way. You may have won your way into my nightly schedule. (If I'm not fast asleep or playing Battlefield 2)

That is perhaps the MOST shallow post I plan on making - like, ever.

But that's just kind of how I'm feeling today.

Once a smoker, always a smoker

2005-06-29T10:41:00.000-05:00

I'll assume you as the lowly reader of my blog (I dunno, maybe it's just me who will read this, and that's ok too) don't know me. There was a time in my life when I was a smoker. Nay, an AVID smoker. I'd say a pack a day probably qualified me as 'avid', although I realize some people smoke way more than that, and still not feel like they smoke that much.

Shortly before my wife and I decided to have a baby, I managed to kick the addiction. I remember being really very proud of myself. It was not the first time I'd tried to quit. This time I bought the gum and I really think that helped me a lot, although it was still incredibly difficult to kick the non-chemical addiction. The feeling of the perfectly engineered round cylinder of love in between my fingers, the familiar satisfaction of taking a draw on the cigarette, the playful pastime of ejecting the smoke from my mouth in ever-more-creative ways.

It's now been over 5 years since I considered myself as a smoker, but in the past two weeks, I find that my desire to become a regular smoker again is getting greater and greater by the day. I can, however, think of nothing more repulsive than my children being around a smoking father, or the thought of me getting home in the evening, reeking like a wet ashtray and hugging them. Those mental images are my primary incentive to not completely break down and regress. I have no problem keeping those negative thoughts alive in my mind and for that reason alone I'm sure I can succeed in this particular battle against desire.

Great.

Well...

Just lately I've been finding it 'acceptable' to smoke the occasional cigarette at home, on the driveway... after the kids are asleep and safe in their beds. A cigarette followed by a quick shower, no-one is any the wiser, apart from my laundry pile. That's OK, right? I know it's not. I can say now that I know it's NOT ok, but I just want to put this in writing so I can look back on it in the coming weeks and months. It's NOT ok.

Right now I'm using it as a crutch to get through a very stressful period in my life. I shouldn't be. I hope that I can either be strong enough to walk alone, or that the stressful period won't last much longer than this pack of cigarettes will last. (which gives me approximately another 17 days of stress)

Social smoking I can deal with, although I also realize that THAT is unacceptable too. However it's this new occasional 'comfort injection' I need to focus on now. I know it's got to stop. I can't venture down this path again.

Calm and Collected, but not Cool

2005-06-29T10:14:00.000-05:00

They turn off the AC at night here at work. Coming in at 8am means you're going to be dripping wet by 9. Nice.

...But it IS good for the company.

Hypocrisy

2005-06-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

Nothing pisses me off more than hypocrisy. If you mandate something to me that you feel is important, I am happy to oblige. I'm a nice person, I can make comprimises in the interest of a relationship.

If immediately after our agreement is made, you show a blatant disregard for your own mandate, then fuck you. The contract previously established has been nullified.

Excuse the language.

Definition du jour

2005-06-27T23:09:00.000-05:00

job rape (jŏb rāp) n.

an unwanted or forced change in vocation perpetrated by one's superiors.

Getting things done

2005-06-27T22:57:00.000-05:00

Seems like this is a week for getting things done that have been outstanding for a while in my world. I've been fixing things and installing things and catching up on things that have just taken a back seat for a while. Maybe I'm 'nesting' in preperation for this 'new' job. Among others, I finally added some pictures to my website. The last time I'd added any was after Camden's first birthday back in 2004. He's about to be 2 on July 31st so I figured this might be a good time to fill in the gaps. I know I suck. Of course it having been so long since I used my gallery, nothing worked properly, so fixing that added to the laundry list.

How badass is it that you can order parts for pretty much anything you've every purchased from Sears? We've had an elliptical machine for probably close to 2 years now which has been noisy from day one, with play in the pedals. I guess that should have been a sign that it wouldn't last too long because, well... it didn't. I took it apart this weekend when the newly-developed squeaking became unbearable, only to find that the bearings that surround the main axle have worn a sizeable groove in the axle itself. Judging by the size of the groove, I'd say those bearings never worked. Piece of crap. Anyways, $100 later parts are on their way and in all honesty, as much as I hate that damn thing, I'll feel pretty good if I get it all back together and it works like it should, all silent and 'tight'. I just wish I could be as optimistic at the chances of our washing machine being repaired. Maybe I should just bolt that fucking thing to the floor. That'd stop it moving halfway across the room during the spin cycle.

Migraines, Stress, Allergies, and Bluescreens. This is the life.

2005-06-27T20:53:00.000-05:00

I've been nursing an insanely bad migraine for most of the day. One of those "every movement hurts" migraines where by the end of the day I can't even open one eye because the pain is too great.

Maybe running out of my allergy medicine last week is a contributing factor. Maybe it's due to the fact that I was essentially laid-off-but-not-really some time last week. Maybe it's the fact that I have quite a bit to do before I move into my new job and the pressure is getting to me. Maybe I just had a bad headache. When there are so many possibilities all at once, none of which can be immediately removed, how do you diagnose which one is responsible by the traditional process of elimination? Beer. That's how. Beer and huge-ass horse pills of ibuprofen.

Speaking of the process of elimination, I was finally able to play a solid 2 hours of Battlefield 2 this weekend without the dreaded bluescreen of death that I've been getting. I probably should have been more slow and deliberate in my elimination of possible causes but I wound up disabling DEP on my machine, disabling unused SATA channels, slowing my memory settings from 1T to 2T, disabling my unused serial port, and disabling my unused Floppy Disk Controller in the BIOS (hoping to free up some IRQ channels in case what I was experiencing was an IRQ conflict). One or all of those seemed to do the trick but I suspect the new 2T memory settings are having a detrimental effect on gameplay, with the occasional stutter when switching from zoomed to non-zoomed mode when using the anti-tank missile for example. I guess since I wasn't slow and deliberate in my elimination process I'll have to be slow and deliberate in my re-introduction process, changing at least the memory settings back before trying again.

...Of course, knowing my luck, it'll bluescreen just fine even with all those things removed.

Incidentally, a really useful toolset I found for analyzing memory dumps after a bluescreen was Debugging Tools for Windows from MS themselves ( I guess they throw us a bone every now and then ) with pretty good 101-level instructions here.

Oh yeah, and today is Ed's birthday. What a great guy. One of the most charitable and generous people you'd care to meet. Even though he's a freak. He's our freak and we love him.

Can You Hear Me Now

2005-06-23T11:42:00.000-05:00

I guess the fact that I can post from my phone will enable me to be COMPLETELY spontaneous and even more random that I might be normally inclined to be.
This could be a bad thing.
...Of course, 255 characters doesn't leave much room for spontaneity.

First Post

2005-06-23T11:07:00.000-05:00

Here it is, the obligatory "is it working" post. As you can see, it most certainly is. I guess I'll try to post something semi-regularly but I'm really a very forgetful and ill-organized person. Meh.