January 26, 2012
Sick Mama
Good morning! Michelle is not feeling well today. I'm working from home to help out where I can. I dropped the girls off at their schools. After doing a little work email catchup, I dropped the boys off at their school and stopped by the grocery to pick Michelle up some ginger ale to help settle her stomach. Claire has final exams in English and Wood Tech this morning.
Via @LT_TheBiblegeek: “My kids asked why they have middle names. Me: ‘So you'll know when Mommy and Daddy are losing their patience.’ ”
Claire called and Michelle picked her up from school. Claire brought home her two projects from Wood Tech class. So cool! I wish my high school had offered something like it. When I hear her talk about building her projects, she sounds like Norm Abram from New Yankee Workshop.
After admiring her work, I saw that I got a package. It's Claire's "new" calculator, a classic HP-28S. For being 20+ years old it was in mint condition and had all the manuals. Thank you eBay! I took Claire and Michelle out for lunch at Cafe on the Oval. Michelle was feeling well enough to enjoy a simple lunch. We swung by Rite Aid to get the calculator fresh batteries (expensive N cells) and then by DFE for hot drinks. Now back to debug...
I shall not covet. I shall not covet. Must moderate the technolust! The Panasonic Lumix GX1. I've been watching the Micro Four Thirds cameras for years, hoping that niche would mature. Now it looks as though it's really hitting its stride.
I'm working from home because Michelle was feeling ill this morning. For completely different reasons, I may work from home again tomorrow. Snow, ice to snarl Friday morning commute
Perhaps it's because I read Walden as a youngin' or the time I spent in northern Wisconsin, but I aspire some day to have a weekend getaway like this hermitage at the Pacem in Terris retreat center. Michelle would probably kill me though.
Got another cool GPU test written and debugged this afternoon. Wrapped up around 6:15 and took Claire with me to Golds Gym for the 6:30 Muscle Core workout. Next week a whole new schedule starts at Golds. There'll be fewer opportunities for Step classes but more opportunities for strength classes.
God's Sense of Humor: While creating wives, God promised men that good and obedient wives would be found in all corners of the world. And then He made the earth round.
We got our first taste of the nasty rain/snow/sleet mix as we were leaving Golds. Looks like we'll get more overnight. It'll be interesting to see what things look like tomorrow. Michelle took care of the twins and I got Timothy tucked in bed with his prayers.
I'll admit it: I'm kinda eager to dust off the old brain cells about how to use my old HP-28S from senior year of college. I did so much with it back then. Luckily with Claire's arrival today are a bunch of the manuals, considering I failed to track down my copies in our house last weekend. But for now, I'd better get some rest...
“The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you” — Mark 4
January 25, 2012
Carbon Copy SOTU
Good morning! I dropped the girls off at their schools. It's the last day of the semester for Claire. Tomorrow and Friday she has her final exams. I listened to more of "Reamde" on the drive to work. Sunny and 36°F so far. Time to dig through 29 emails and get into debuggin'...
May have to show this to my camera-awkward boys (not that I do much better…): How to Look Your Best In Photos. Well, as long as they don't take posing tips from Angus.
Michelle is at the YMCA sub-teaching a Step class this morning, as the instructor who usually has this slot is sick today.
36 Year Old Virgin Has Fathered 14 Children. What a strange world some of our technology has generated! Thank you artificial insemination and sperm banks.
Some nice shots/videos of the recent aurora borealis due to the large solar flares. (related link)
The St. Josemaria Institute has redesigned their website.
Just how big are some stars? Want some help trying to visualize it? Try this.
Listened to the CATO Institute's review of the State of the Union Address. The RNC also critiqued it as being a carbon copy of his previous addresses.
Had a couple of debugging successes today. Just finished up third and final conference call for the afternoon. Ready to head north...
Listen to more of Neal Stephenson's “Reamde” on the drive home. If it seems like I've been listening to this forever, keep in mind that the book is over a thousand pages. This author's previous “Anathem” was almost as bad. Had some reheated dinner. Got Timothy setup with Code Academy to learn some bits of JavaScript. Michelle helped Michael learn long division while I helped Claire prepare for tomorrow's finals by reviewing vocabulary words with her. In exchange Claire got the boys ready for bed with their prayers. Now getting some heavy eyes... Good night all!
“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” — Mark 16
January 24, 2012
EVO EOL'd
Good morning! Yawn! Between yesterday's workout and picking up Claire past ten, I did not want to get up this morning. Can't I just stay in bed cuddling my awesome wife? Ah well, time to pull myself out of bed, get a wake up shower, and be on my way...
I got the girls dropped off at their schools. As often happens, I think Abby got in with but a minute to spare. I listened to more of "Reamde" on the drive in. It was a balmy 37°F when I got in and should approve 50°F today. Wow! In January?! When I got in I was a bit annoyed with myself for forgetting my badge.
Via @bego: “Bumper sticker: ‘LOVE is our SOUL purpose.’ Made my commute.” | Indeed! Rarely do bumper sticker sayings have such sublime wisdom.
The Dumbest Phrase In The English Language Is…
The last time the Senate passed a budget, you couldn't read it on an iPad. Those came out a whole year later. FYI: Today marks 1000 days since the U.S. Senate passed a budget. Reminds me of voting ‘Present’ on a piece of legislation. As my ol' business partner used to say, “fish or cut bait!”
When I see articles like this, I start to wonder what it even means to attend a "Catholic" university. So many are Catholic in Name Only, brazenly dissenting from Catholic teaching. Why bother saying you're a Catholic University?
~2 yrs ago the tech pundits couldn't get over this phone's specs. This week it's been end-of-life'd. Goodbye HTC EVO.
Left work around 5:30, listening to more of "Reamde" on the drive north. I forgot to mention earlier that Michelle taught her last Cardio Blast class at Golds Gym this morning. She and the kids were also at CCD this evening.
Helped Claire with her homework. She also finished "A Tale of Two Cities" tonight. I got the boys tucked in with their prayers and shooed the girls off to bed. Good night all!
“For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother.” — Mark 3
Summary of Recent Posts
January 23, 2012
March of the Ninjas »
Another year for the media to ignore the March for Life. Step Circuit class at Golds. Late night for Claire. (289 words)
January 22, 2012
Twins Turn 11 »
Served/lectored at Mass and breakfast at DFE. Playing in the snow. Tim tries an editor I used back in college. Ordered Claire a "classic" scientific calculator. Dinner at Amigos for the twins' 11th birthday. 9 snapshots. (349 words)
January 20, 2012
“New” Laptop for Timothy »
~2 inches of snow to clean. Tim's broken Dell now replaced with an ol' Thinkpad. Worked from home. Lunch at Cafe on the Oval. Lubuntu install. Claire bowling and at sleepover. (391 words)
January 19, 2012
Kodak Bankrupt »
Minor site issues. Breakfast at Cafe on the Oval and lunch at Not Your Average Joes. Kodak files for bankrupcy. Open marriage jokes. Core strength class at Golds. Claire finishes up early at Subway. (347 words)
January 18, 2012
Another Clean Mammogram »
Another day at the office. Michelle had a clean mammogram. SOPA/PIPA protests. Shampoo joke. NH unemployment still enviable at 5.1%. Youth Group for the girls. (394 words)