http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/index/ 96.858474 percent clayton... the rest is just pi en admin@thispageintentionallyleftblank.net Copyright 2008 2008-05-11T16:51:00-06:00 http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/happy_mothers_day/ http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/happy_mothers_day/#When:16:51:00Z Madeline I’m an uncle now… as of a couple of weeks ago. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommies out there… especially to my baby sister on this, her first, Mother’s Day… just a day after her birthday! (Happy b-day too!) 2008-05-11T16:51:00-06:00 http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/tivo_as_a_verb_i_am_on_the_localizer/ http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/tivo_as_a_verb_i_am_on_the_localizer/#When:22:37:00Z i feel like more tonight...i feel like more feel like more tonight... Holy shit. This blog is neglected… I know. Honestly it comes down to laziness. Take the slices of pie in my day that are not work, sleep, or other preoccupation and there isn’t much pie left to generate motivation to type here… especially when it’s become more self-documentary than expressional. Is that even a word? Let me give you the run down on the last little bit of me since I visited here… more or less. I went to Costa Rica for a week in April. My buddy Barrett was engaged a while back and on the night of this officiation, he explained to me that his brother was the best man… no if’s, and’s, or but’s… but that he would need some help planning the bachelor party. “I only have two conditions”, he says. Easy. I know these before the words even reach his lips. Standard bachelor party conditions imposed by Future Wives of America… no strippers/whores and no drugs. It’s straight out of the Bachelorette Distrust 101 curriculum. Then, he surprised me… “Condition 1: It’s got to be in Costa Rica.” Now we’re talkin’… “Condition 2: It has to last at least 4 days.” Like a rock star. I have to admit that over the months to follow I had little to do with the actual planning… I mean, after all, it wasn’t my party… he should get what he wants and how he wants it. Who knows better than him? Fast forward to early April 2008 and you will find Barrett and I along with 4 compadres (Andy, Mike, Doug, and James) in a private 6000 square foot villa on a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean complete with butler, maid, private rooms, infinity pool, and jacuzzi. Here is the view from the veranda of my bedroom: We went deep sea fishing 43 miles off the coast in a private 50’ Hatteras yacht. We rode ATV’s through the jungle basin. We zip-lined through the rain forest canopy. We ate, drank, and were merry. Random sampling of photos aqui: headed out to sea my sail taking a break after a hard ride me? dirty? Einstein’s got nothin’ on me. extremely cool ride BCRL (blood Crown Royal level) was high goin’ to town I literally have over 4 GB of photos and movies from the trip. Most of them highlight how out of shape I am as I lounge around the pool like a beached whale. I had a fabulous time despite not being able to take nature and landscape photos as I’d hoped we could fit in… but hey, it was Bear’s special trip, not mine. I must admit that I came back from vacation needing a vacation. I know you know what I mean. I’ve been working a lot, but no where near the amount I was the first 3 months of the year. That was just insane. I’m not at my number (linearly) for the year, but I’m close, so I’m glad to have a moment to breath. Late in the year, as I might have mentioned, I received my VA eligibility certificate for educational benefits earned while serving in the US military. I’ve enrolled in a Part 141 VA approved flight school and am working on my Instrument and Commercial pilot certificates. I spent almost 2 hours in flight under the hood today and my brain is fried. It is quite challenging early on to maintain the multitasking for such extended periods. I fly again tomorrow around 1:00 in the afternoon and am looking forward to a relaxing evening over at Georgia’s. Henry is over there on a play day with Tucker right now so I’m sure he’s going to be pooped when I get there this evening. It seems there were a few things here and there that I’ve dropped along the way, but honestly I’m doing good just to post this… if I remember, I’m sure they will find there way here eventually… ...or not.  :) Summer is announcing it’s arrival as we peek into the 90’s this weekend. I need a cold front. Now. Toodles. update: pee ess… taken out of context, I see now that the shirt can be quite, well, not “me” and more Steve Stifler. The Monster is a giant burrito at a local chain. It’s quite good. The shirt is from there… 2008-05-10T22:37:00-06:00 http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/check_one_two_check_check/ http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/check_one_two_check_check/#When:09:35:00Z Is this thing on? Arrrrrg… I’m sleepy and otherwise feeling worn thin, but I’m around. Sorta. This is the placeholder for what would have been a post if I wasn’t so set on crawling under a bunch of covers and snuggling with my little Peanut. 2008-05-02T09:35:00-06:00 http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/happy_march_14th/ http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/happy_march_14th/#When:23:33:00Z Quite possibly one of the most under-celebrated special days in the history of mankind. Have a wonderful holiday! 2008-03-14T23:33:00-06:00 http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/santa_clara_ground_cessna_1109e_at_work_with_atis_request_taxi_to_active/ http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/santa_clara_ground_cessna_1109e_at_work_with_atis_request_taxi_to_active/#When:20:48:00Z Sunny California is where I be. Lots of nothing and a little something has been happening since I last clickitty-clacked this soon to be migrated blogournal. Apparently “they” are moving the OS supporting the server this is hosted on to a newer, better, faster, leaner, meaner, shinier, sparklier version tomorrow. I’m not a server savvy chap, so I don’t know what will break and what won’t. The hosting company (1&1 thanks to a tip from Lisa) claims it will be seamless. I have no other option but to trust them as I’m certainly not in a position to fiddle with anything. I tried something as simple as backing up the database and get nothing but errors from the web server (500). The front line support at 1&1 are snacking on lead paint chips and it takes a monumental effort to get to anyone above them on the technical food chain, so I’ve given up. If this page is indeed blank tomorrow, you’ll know why. In other news, I’ve been working a lot. I flew for the first time in 10 years a week or so ago and realized just how very much I need to shake the rust off. I’m going to attempt a BFR next week when I get back to Texas, but I’m not sporting a lot of confidence at this juncture. I’ve been in Cali all week working at my companies headquarters in Santa Clara. Georgia is flying out tomorrow and we are going to spend the weekend in San Francisco and Napa Valley before heading back Sunday. It’s the closest thing to time off I’ve had in a while. Mom is pet-sitting while I’m away and looking over the house and such. Not much else new here… Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is coming, so I was able to attend my very first WWBBQ cook-off this year… my best friend’s step-dad was kidnapped and subsequently recovered through a huge joint effort force of multiple agencies including the FBI and Texas Rangers (and that is just too freaky to talk about)… there is the flying thing I mentioned, but there will be more of that later as I struggle to get back in the saddle and work toward my Instrument and Commercial ratings… I started to get really sick and tried one of those oddball neti pots which are just crazy weird, but work… etc and so on. I have an inkling of motivation to upgrade EECore to the new version and start writing here again if the server upgrade doesn’t make the history of this site go bye-bye tomorrow. I’m still tired all the time and need a vacation that includes actual sleep and sloth-like movement during waking hours… preferably nestled in a couch, sofa, chaise, beanbag, futon, or similar sedentary device. 2008-03-06T20:48:00-06:00 http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/i_love_first_class/ http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/i_love_first_class/#When:16:38:01Z I’m so tired… and sick. I’ve been spread pretty thing recently. Rewind a few weeks to the last time I posted here and since, I’ve been to Lufkin a couple of times, to California for a week for my annual global sales conference in Silicon Valley, to my current trip to southern Illinois by way of Indianapolis. It’s snowing outside. The week I was in Cali and unfortunately, on this trip as well, I put in 18 hour days. Yesterday it all caught up to me. I’m miserable when I’m sick. I’m certain there have been many tidbits along these weeks that have been work blogging, but I have not the will to sit in front a computer a second longer than required these days. In the years I’ve been doing this, there has always been ebb and flow. One day, the tide will come back in. For now however, I just want to come home and get well. 2008-02-08T16:38:01-06:00 http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/crown_rocks_not_just_a_drink_a_tradition/ http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/crown_rocks_not_just_a_drink_a_tradition/#When:16:37:00Z Tenacious C and the CR The weekend at the coast was nice and relaxing. I don’t like the long drive, but I enjoy seeing family. My 6.5 month pregnant sister was in town for likely her final visit before my niece makes her grand entrance. We went maternity clothes shopping on Saturday in Corpus, but other than that, we just enjoyed some down time with conversation and games at the house. Georgia and my mom were walking through one of the spare bedrooms at my grandmothers and found some old photos of me in a display cube… stuff like my baby pic on a bear rug, my father and I on a motorcycle, etc. The one that really stood out was this one… my first exposure to Crown Royal. I was about 6 months old at the time of developing (the date on the framing), but my mother thinks I was probably closer to 4 or 5 months old in the photo. Just think… all this time I thought I drank it so much because it tasted good. Hehe. 2008-01-21T16:37:00-06:00 http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/sleepless_in_houston/ http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/sleepless_in_houston/#When:08:44:00Z Right. So, this evening was a rather impromptu birthday dinner for my good friend, Ed. I wanted to do something special for his birthday (which was December 31), but have really just been so busy with life, the universe, and everything that the occation keeps slipping. I’ve been spread a little thin at work these days. The beginning of the year is hard enough, but my boss has me covering for another rep out of Chicago until he gets an engineer of his own. I honestly don’t mind a bit and am happy to help. I just find my days growing longer and more cluttered. Barrett came over this afternoon just as I was getting off work to catch up and spend some time with me tonight. He participated in Ed’s birthday night and stayed for a while back at my place afterwards for a long conversation. I should be exhausted at the moment, but I just can’t seem to fall asleep, so I decided to throw a few letters on the page for proof of life. I’m excited to finally see my prego sister this weekend… for the first time in nearly a year. I have some other travel coming up, but my schedule is a big jigsaw puzzle at the moment. If it weren’t for the automated calendar reminders, I’d likely be afk from RealLife™. I’ve noticed trends of wordiness swinging to aloof and often missing here over the last 6-ish years. Today, it’s not disinterest or even lack of content. It just comes down to time. I don’t make it. Sad, isn’t it? 2008-01-17T08:44:00-06:00 http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/i_need_a_whopper_like_britney_spears_need_panties/ http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/i_need_a_whopper_like_britney_spears_need_panties/#When:20:56:00Z 2008-01-11T20:56:00-06:00 http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/nothing_quite_says_happy_new_year_like_the_bsod/ http://thispageintentionallyleftblank.net/index.php/site/nothing_quite_says_happy_new_year_like_the_bsod/#When:13:26:00Z mini-me Yaarrrrrrr! I was amidst posting a lengthy entry last night before bed and my Vista system threw up the Blue Screen of Death. I was too tired to continue and quite frankly, I don’t really remember what I was getting at anyway. The holidays are over and merely 10 days into the new year, the shock of 2007’s rapid disappearance still lingers. I enjoyed being visiting my mom for the New Year’s Eve event. We were all out in the country where the nights are lit with hundreds of thousands of stars invisible to city eyes. Bob made a huge bonfire and we roasted marshmellows and hotdogs. There were no loud bars and congestion of cars… just the wind. I didn’t actually stay up for “the ball drop”. Back at work, the new year is always challenging. Up until the leap I took three years ago, I had no immediate concept of quota assignments and territories. Each new year starts the same… prospecting and qualifying with hopes that the end of the year has brought enough successful sales cycles to meet your commitment. Rinse and repeat. Outside of work, I’ve been laying low… spending time with friends, playing games, etc. I submitted the request for my “new format” FAA license and should receive that in the next week or two. I’ve been researching a book I’m working on with a good friend of mine and neighbor, Bob Nuelle. He is an amateur entomologist of sorts and we’ve started the selection process for a coffeetable style pictorial with factoid insets. The idea is to photograph the specimens at very high magnification… atypical for bug books. This sort of photography is somewhat technical due to the effective depth of field at this magnification. I’ve worked through some of those challenges but I’m still not happy with the resulting images. I’ll practice more as time allows and hopefully we’ll have the kinks worked out by spring and I can shoot the spreads by the end of summer. Here are a couple of test shots from the other day: I’m off to work downtown. Have a good day. 2008-01-09T13:26:00-06:00