Carl's in Charge

Wow. 10 years. Really?

2010-04-02T00:10:00.002-04:00

It was 10 years ago today that Shayna and I first started dating. For 6 of the 10 we've been married. It honestly doesn't seem like 10 years. It especially doesn't seem like 6 of them have been married.

I remember it so well. Shout outs to all the people who made that day happen. The men who stood by my side, driving through the snow storm on a Thursday night. Brent standing tall even though he was sick. Sammy standing tall but you still had to look down to see him (Sorry Sammy, couldn't help it). Dave reading scripture. Gordon presenting his toast. Cris the master of the ceremony. Jonathan presenting the ring. Odgie getting his picture with all of the bridesmaids. Bryant bringing a smile to every one's face.

Shout out to my in-laws who paid, organized, decorated, and told me that I was welcome to the family even with my Broncos hat.

Shout out to all those who attended.

But the biggest shout out goes to Shayna. A girl who I love more and more every day. Thank you for saying yes..and good morning I love you today. Happy Anniversary dear. I love you.

Wow.. almost 2 months since a post

2009-11-24T23:51:00.006-05:00

It doesn't seem that long ago since I last posted but the blogger doesn't lie..

This will be a family type post so if that bores you feel free to move on. You won't hurt my feelings.

Sophia is now almost 6 months old and a complete joy to be around. She is almost crawling. It's more of an army man crawl at this point, but she's starting to get the hang of it. She's eating carrots, rice cereal, and oatmeal now and I love making her smile. Shayna found the perfect gift for me with the Broncos hat shown. It's never to early to start..

I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful wife. Shayna is doing a phenomenal job with Sophia. I don't think I could do what she does. She feeds, cleans, and plays with a 6 month old, keeps the house in order, and still manages to find things to do for me (for example the Broncos hat above). I try and keep up, but I'm nowhere near as good as she is.

Thank you Shayna for being the love of my life and the best mom a daughter could ever hope for. I know in 12 years and 6 months she won't appreciate all you do and have done, but I do.

Thank you Sophia for bringing a smile to your old man's face every morning.

This one goes out to the one I love...

2009-10-01T01:14:00.004-04:00

A lot has happened in the last year.. a lot has changed. One thing that hasn't though is my beautiful wonderful wife. Today is October first which marks her ----- birthday.

I've written previously about her but I don't think it quite does her justice. This is a woman who selflessly gives up sleep for our daughter...and me.

This is a woman who lovingly puts up with my stupid jokes (of which there are many).

This is a woman who makes me smile every day when she parades our daughter in her outfits.

This is a woman who is a better person than I.

I don't know why you stuck with me this far, but thank you that you have. I love you so much. Happy Birthday.

Amazing Grace

2009-06-07T10:30:00.003-04:00

Those of you who follow my wife's blog know that we had Sophia this past weekend. She is so adorable, and I am so thankful that she is healthy.

She was 10 days early so we are completely unprepared. Some ways that God has totally pulled my butt from the fire just from this weekend:

I was in Pittsburgh for closing on our new home but with Shayna headed to the OR our friend Julie stepped in for me. Totally above and beyond the call of duty.
Our car seat wasn't installed because I was hauling stuff to our new house. I spent Friday night wrestling with it hoping that it would protect Sophie. Saturday morning I had Shayna call the lone guy that services Alexandria to make an appointment and the message played that he was booked for the month of June. I figured I was just going to have to strap it in as tight as possible and hope that I don't get into an accident. I headed downstairs to grab a soda and in the elevator another new father reminded me to get my car seat inspected. I told him how we tried calling today but he wasn't taking any more appointments for June. The man said he had an appointment in 10 minutes and that I can come and sit in...
Saturday night Sophia was inconsolable. We tried feeding her but she just wasn't eating and we were at the ends of our rope. I took Sophie back to the nursery while she was crying hoping that they would take her. While dropping her off I met a nurse who was very no nonsense and told me at the next feeding she would be coming down to make sure it got done. 30 minutes later she showed up and Sophia ate heartily for the first time.

Thank you God for all these things and more that you have done in my life.

LOST Theory

2009-05-17T10:55:00.001-04:00

Figured it was time to post my thoughts on the Lost finale. If you haven’t see it yet, there will be spoilers so I suggest you leave first.

The opening scene is with Jacob (white shirt eating the fish & who gets killed in the end) and the man in black (who I will refer to as Esau). It’s obvious that they are trying to make these 2 people into a God & Devil type figures with Jacob as God and Esau as devil.

My hunch is this: Jacob is actually the Devil figure. Here is how I get there:

In the opening scene Esau tells Jacob that he really wants to kill him and that he just needs to find a loophole. In classical Christian thinking Christ (God) defeats death (Satan) through a “loophole” (choosing no sin).

Using this logic it makes sense to Jacob to foster all of the negative things to bring people to the island (let’s Kate get away with stealing, enables Sawyer to write the letter which fuels his rage, extends Locke’s crappy life into an even more crappy life, etc)

Other tidbits: The bomb doesn’t mean anything. Sawyer was right: “What’s done is done”. Anything that they did already happened, they just didn’t realize it. Richard said he watched the people die so I imagine that the LOST people go to the Ben attack. It would be interesting to see if during the scene in which Locke was in the mass grave, there was a LaFleur body.

I also think Richard is the captain of the Black Rock (Ship that was in the opening scene)

Overall, an awesome episode and season!

Looking to the past and seeing a reflection

2009-05-09T01:02:00.001-04:00

This past week I took my mom out to lunch for Mother’s day. After lunch she gave me my old baby book. When I was younger I would look at it all the time, but it’s been at least 15 20 years since I’ve seen it.

I spent some time looking at it and it’s weird to see the pictures. I see pictures of my mom and dad and they look so young. I can see the family resemblance between my dad and brother. My grandfather looks just like my Uncle Mike.

Looking at the pictures I wonder what my parents are thinking.. if they were as scared/excited about having me as I am about having Sophia.

I wonder what the back story was behind some of the pictures. If pictures speak a thousand words, how many words do they not speak?

Pandora Sidebar

2009-05-09T00:48:00.001-04:00

One of the things about Vista that I’ve resisted using was the sidebar. I use dual monitors practically all of the time, but being mobile means at times I have to go down to one and then it’s just a pain having the real estate taken from me. I then have to turn it off etc.. such a pain.

I decided to give it a try though. Most of the stuff on there I find pretty useless, however I did find a Pandora app which plays music without actually having to go to their site. So now I have a sidebar..

A running back? Really??

2009-04-25T17:36:00.001-04:00

I don’t know about this McDaniels guy. They signed a bunch of free agent running backs in the off-season so far and they announced that they were going to switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 and they take another running back instead of linemen which is what they need for the transition.

The season is already over…

Hello From Branson, MO

2009-04-09T16:38:00.001-04:00

Last Friday Shayna and I drove from Warshington (That’s for you Jen), DC to Branson, MO for vacation. Dave and Jen Roland joined us until Wednesday at a cabin in the Wilderness Club at Big Cedar. So far, this is the coolest resort in our timeshare. Every day a cookie lady (official title according to her name tag) brings a different type of cookie.

Friday we will drive to St. Louis to see the Roland’s house and spend an evening with them, then it’s off to Pittsburgh, PA and an Easter Dinner with Shayna’s family followed by the trip home.

Overall a very relaxing and enjoyable vacation. We have plenty of pictures from Dogwood Canyon which I (or more likely Shayna) will post later.

Hope you all had a great week as well!

Doing the trade dance

2009-04-03T00:40:00.001-04:00

I have to give it to Bowlen. When he wants to trade someone, he does a pretty decent job. The last big trade the Broncos had was to send Clinton Portis to the Redskins and the Redskins gave up their shut-down corner Champ Bailey and a second round draft pick.

This time they trade Cutler for 2 first round picks, a third round pick, and Kyle Orton. Granted Orton is an average QB at best, but maybe McDaniels can coach him up like he did Matt Cassell who didn’t even start a college game…

Hopefully they will trade down a little bit and get a lot of good players in this year’s draft.

For once this off season there is a glimmer of hope.

5 years ago today

2009-04-02T00:34:00.001-04:00

5 years ago today I made one of the biggest decisions of my life.

5 years ago today I married my wife.

5 years ago today I made vows to God and said “I Do!”

5 years ago today she said “I do too”

5 years ago today we started saying “I love you today”

After 5 years we still say it every day.

I can’t believe it’s been that long.

My love for you is still so strong.

Thank you thank you for being my wife.

5 years ago today I made the second best decision of my life.

Hopefully WB learns from the past

2009-03-24T10:08:00.001-04:00

The Hollywood Reporting is reporting that Warner Brothers is a financial backer of a gaming console. This console won’t rely on discs or cartridges. Instead it will stream games from the cloud.

Is it me or does this sound like the phantom all over again?

The Game of Life

2009-03-18T00:55:00.001-04:00

As explained in my wife’s blog, I am in the process of getting life insurance. If I were to go, for whatever reason, I want to make sure they are taken care of.

Anyways I’ve contacted 3 different companies (accuquote.com, geico.com, and erie insurance (who does our auto)). Apparently they all work with the same life insurance underwriter because they provided me with the same quote.

All 3 of the salesmen were very helpful and nice. So how do I determine which one to buy from and give them a commission? I think there should be a no holds barred death match. I would give the business to the person who died first because obviously they believe in the policy the most. Plus I would feel kind of bad and would want their next of kin to get the commission.

Strange Factoid about me: When I go to the barber shop I never want the person with the best hair cut to cut my hair. I actually want the person who cut their hair. This is usually the barber with the worst hair cut. Ironically enough, that person also usually has the shortest wait.

Technology Shift

2009-03-16T00:36:00.004-04:00

I love trying out new technology. Hopefully when I get old it will keep me in the loop with my grandkids. (Back in my day our gaming consoles only had 128 bytes of ram and it wasn’t handheld, and it used sprites.. no not like the soda…)

This post is being done on Microsoft Live Writer. They built a blogging program to go in their live lineup. It’s actually pretty slick and I think I might use it in the future instead of the normal web interface.

When we move to PA, I think we are going to forgo cable and just get internet and an antenna for over the air transmissions. A little old school and new school in that technology front.

I’m also intrigued by the Palm Pre as my next cell phone. It’s always been my contention that cell phones should just be phones, however with having the kid and moving out of state, I think being full time connected is a good idea (I think this now before I am fully connected). The other option is an iPhone which I don’t really want to do because then all of my mac friends will tell me “welcome to the club” or “I told you so” or something similarly annoying like that guy in the I’m a Mac commercials. Plus if the opportunity ever came up I wouldn’t be able to go to Bill Gates’ house.

In other news, Jay Cutler is a big baby. So what if your new boss wanted to trade you. It's a business. Show him that you really are a franchise QB and then stick it to him in 3 years when your contract is up.

Other news part deux: Little Sophia can apparently hear now. This means I need to curb my language. For example I need to stop saying "Don't tell ME what to do". I can't have her learning that one before she's 25. I also need to start using some key phrases some more so that she learns them quickly. Things like "Go get me some food woman"

Shayna will be so pleased with my parenting skillz

Time to start saving my allowance

2009-03-08T16:44:00.002-04:00

With the sky high cost of movie tickets, Shayna and I don't go very often. We'll go to ones we feel are "Theater Worthy". Unfortunately almost every weekend in May has movies of this caliber.

May 1: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
May 8: Star Trek
May 15: Angels and Demons
May 21: Terminator Salvation

Good thing Sophia won't be oot and aboot by then, otherwise I'd have to factor in childcare along with the ticket cost.

Worst day of the year

2009-03-07T22:09:00.002-05:00

I dread this day. Out of all 365 days of the year, this day is by far the worst. Sure, the weather was great. Sure Mason won their quarterfinal game. This is still by far the worst day though.

I am of course referring to Spring Forward day. For the next couple of months I will be sluggish that only an extra hour of sleep at night can cure.

sigh...

What a weekend

2009-03-02T11:08:00.002-05:00

Just so much stuff..

Saw Slumdog Millionaire. It was just ok. Certainly not better than Dark Knight. I'm still kind of bitter that DK didn't get more awards/nominations. It broke almost every record..
Free Agency - FA kicked off with a bang this year. Albert Haynesworth to the skins for 100m. 41 guaranteed. Another in a long line of disappointing FA acquisitions for the skins
Broncos get Gaffney who should be a good #2 behind Eddie Royal since Brandon Marshall was arrested..again
Broncos also nearly get Matt Cassel in exchange for Cutler through a 3rd party team. This one is intriguing. Cutler's arm is strong, but his decisions are sometimes questionable. Cassel certainly looked a lot like Tom Brady by the end of last season. The question is: is it the system or the QB? Could the Pats pump out QBs like the Broncos pump out RBs? Will the Broncos backs gain yards like in years past? Only 184 more days to go..
New favorite restaurant is an oldie.. I'm really digging on the soup/salad combo offered at Ruby Tuesday. Plus I had the petite steak there on Saturday night. Not Peddler good, but not bad.

Are times worse now than before?

2009-02-28T01:50:00.002-05:00

If you ask Obama he would say yes. This is the worst time since the great depression...

I had an interesting conversation with my coworkers this week. Over the past 9 years we have had the dot.com bubble burst, 911, housing bubble burst, banking industry stall + almost every other industry. Is there another time in history where so many things happened to the market in such a small span?

Certainly we've had other things like Vietnam, the gas shortage, recession of the early 80s and early 90s..but that's 30 years.

It was postulated that the reason why it's been so condensed is not because times are worse or because the world is coming to an end, but because we find out about things so much faster. When something happens in the world, the major news sites have it up on their pages within minutes. If you use RSS all of those different media outlets are combined into one space for your consumerment. Using something like an iPhone you don't even have to be at your computer, it's practically sent to your pocket automatically. It doesn't even have to be big breaking news. It could be that someone twittered that they just had a great bowel movement.

The other day it was reported that the stock market was back to 1997 levels. Colbert did a pretty funny bit on it but a part rings true. In 12 years I went from reading yesterdays news on a piece of paper to seeing Jabar Gaffney being signed by the Broncos within an hour of it happening.

I think this is one reason that we look forward to moving to Pittsburgh. It may not be as slow as DC traffic, but its slower than DC news which is fine by me.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

1997 Flashback

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Joke of the Day
Stand-Up Comedy

Quick Hits

2009-02-23T21:31:00.004-05:00

Been awhile since I posted so I thought I would post a lot at once.

Dollhouse: The first episode wasn't very good. Last week's episode was much better. Word on the street is that by episode 6 it will be much better. Hope so. I feel bad for Eliza after the cancelling of Tru Calling.
Impossible Mission: The title of this game is probably only recognizable by those of you who had a Commodore 64. If you did then things like Epyx and El-Shift-Oh make sense to you. Hello to everyone that just googled "Commodore 64", "Epyx", Impossible" or "Mission". Anyways, they released the game onto DS. I thought that since I'm much wiser and smarter now I should be able to beat a game like this. It still kicks my butt. Although I'm farther than I have ever been (granted it's on easy mode which gives an extra 2 hours of time). Here's hoping that they release Archon or M.U.L.E. (Hello to everyone that just googled "archon" or "MULE" or "Greatest Commodore Games Ever")
EBAX - My company is releasing a product which lets you modify SharePoint lists inside of Excel. If you use SharePoint a lot (for things like task lists etc) it will really make maintaining things a lot easier.
LOST - Is this season great or what?
Looking for a home - Why do some Realtors post pictures that look like they were taken with a camera phone? You can get something that will talk web quality photos for under $100. Just do it.

A great weekend

2009-02-18T01:11:00.002-05:00

Shayna and I had a most excellent time while in NYC over Valentine's day weekend. There was much to be done including going to "Top of the Rock" (Excellent!) and walking everywhere (Bogus!). We even caught some old favorite movies on TV (Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Real Genius). I'll let you guys guess which was the favorite of Shayna's.

Spending the weekend up there made me realize how much better of a team Shayna and I have become. The first time we went to NYC we ended up mad at each other and walking 20 blocks not speaking. The second time was 12 blocks I think. This time though, there was never an upset moment. No matter what we helped each other and got to where we wanted to be.

I think it has a lot to do with how well we know each other now. We started to hit that point in our relationship where we don't even need to speak. We can just throw a look or just a word and know what the other is trying to say (this will come in very handy with Sophia on the way).

While at FAO Swartz, Shayna took me aside and told me that if there was any big kid thing that I wanted, just let her know and she would make it happen. I love that about her. All I have to do is say I want something and she would do whatever it took to make it happen.

Thank you for the wonderful weekend dear. I love you.

In other news, I saw Sophia hiccup today. It made Shayna's entire stomach move!

Rome

2009-02-12T23:54:00.003-05:00

What is wrong, with Jim Rome, he talks like, he is listening to himself on the radio, he repeats himself, he repeats himself, he repeats himself. How can anyone possibly listen to him, I don't understand how he makes any money.

Cool experience

2009-02-10T00:30:00.002-05:00

I got to feel Sophia kick a little today. Didn't feel like much, but it was very cool. I can wait until she is bigger and they are more pronounced.

Shayna is probably dreading that.

What a game

2009-02-02T00:03:00.003-05:00

Glad to see that the Steelers won, but I'm more glad that it was a good game. I thought for sure when the Cards were down by 13 at the start of the 4th the game was over. Looks like the Steelers thought so too and took a break.

I find it weird that the booth didn't review Warner's fumble at the end. That for sure seemed like it should be worth reviewing. For me it looked like the ball was knocked loose and then his arm started to move forward. I don't know if that counts as a fumble or not (I would think that it does). At any rate, it should have been reviewed.

Goodell should be thankful that it didn't go to overtime, then a team wins the coin toss and scores on the first possession. For the Final game both teams should have at least one possession.

My wife is fond of putting in pictures or videos on her blog. So this time I will do it as well.

Best Commercial of the game:

Yes We Can

2009-01-20T15:01:00.002-05:00

I love this country. I love that we don't need to have a war to have our leaders change power. I love hearing the Star Spangled Banner.

I don't much care for politics. I still don't. My thoughts on our new president are thus:

I feel the expectations placed on him are to high. No one could maintain them. I don't agree with some of his ideas (I didn't agree with everything from the other guy either) and I hope he does a good job. Mostly I'm glad that we can have a shift of power go so easily from one person to the next.

In the words of W: Mission Accomplished.

The age in which we live..

2009-01-20T14:28:00.004-05:00

The world changes every so often. This week something unprecendented happened. My grandparents saw the world change from Radio to TV. My parents saw a man walk on the moon. This week it has happened for my generation. We live in a changed world.

I am of course referring to the Arizona Cardinals making it to the Super Bowl. Every week I have picked against them for the simple fact that they are the Cardinals. They now have a legit shot of winning the thing. It comes down to their defense vs. the Steelers offense.

We now live in a world in which a man has walked on the moon, an African American is president of the US, and the Arizona Cardinals have made it to the Superbowl. Next thing you know, the Lions will make it to the playoffs.

Nah.. that's crazy talk right? Right???

Stay Tuned

2009-01-20T14:27:00.002-05:00

There is so much stuff to post about and so little time. I will be doing multiple posts (rather than 1 huge post that even I wouldn't read.)

Birthday Friends

2009-01-14T13:30:00.004-05:00

2 posts in one day?? That's crazy! It must be a national holiday or something.

I am so blessed to have the friends and family that I do. I have been receiving facebook emails all day from people wishing me a happy birthday. My beautiful wonder wife gave me a birthday poem last night which I cherish.

Thank you to everyone who has wished or will wish me a happy birthday. I love you all..except that jerk Carl. I hate that guy.

The Big Three Uh-Oh

2009-01-14T00:25:00.002-05:00

Today I turn 30. When I was in high school I made jokes about how I was going to be dead at 30 from a heart attack because I would just be eating steak and eggs all the time. At that time I felt that dying wasn't a big because I'd get to go to heaven. I was ready to sacrifice my life for Him.

That was then.

As this year starts I look forward to so many things. I want to meet my child and show them everything. I want to grow old with my wife. I want to live.

I know I'm not supposed to be of the world and to not love life more than God. I'm supposed to want to give it up at a moments notice for Him. That He should be my focus.

I just hope He waits, I don't want to go yet.

I don't get it

2009-01-07T16:35:00.001-05:00

Some things I'm fuzzy on.. if someone has the answers that would be great..

Economy: The whole housing mess started when people's mortgages increased because they used an ARM. The ARM is based on the interest rate right? So when the rates were higher, people's monthly payments ballooned. Combine that with the super high gas prices and people were having to go bankrupt and foreclose on their home. The federal funds rate is at .25. That's practically giving money away. Gas prices are down to $1.50.. I can fill my car again for under $20! Why are people still foreclosing? Didn't their payments go down with the rate? Don't they have a little more breathing room with lower gass prices?
Share Point: There is an option to have the default value of a list be a calculated value but you can't use a formula that uses other fields? What kind of formula should I use.. 2+2? (I tried and it didn't work)
What is in the walls of my office? Seriously, it's kind of scary.
How did I get such a beautiful and loving wife? She's taking me on a date tonight!
How do we get some global cooling.. specifically in the DC area. Every time we've had precipitation, it's been rain. Always 33-35 degrees. Seriously people we need a solid snow!

Looking forward to next Christmas

2008-12-24T18:59:00.000-05:00

Next year I will have a 6 month old child. It's very exciting. Seeing their face light up with the lights..Crying on Santa's lap..putting antlers on it's head for the Christmas card.

It's gonna be great. :-)

This Christmas is going to be great as well. We are with family and will have a great time.

Hope everyone out there has a wonderful Christmas!

I hate it when technology is right

2008-12-24T18:57:00.000-05:00

It's very frustrating when I'm working on a report or project and a value comes up that I think shouldn't be correct. So I spend hours trying to figure out how the stupid computer came up with such a number when I realize I misplace a ) or * or a 2.

It's also frustrating when the GPS thinks you are on 76 East when you obviously turned onto 70 West. Wait, what did that sign say?

Quick Hits

2008-12-18T09:46:00.000-05:00

How does Reunion.com make money? Does anyone really pay for their services? Everyone I wanted to reconnect with is either on facebook or myspace. I got a message today saying someone added me to their contact list. I don't recognize the name, so I go into the site. For me to see who has added me, I have to pay. Something is not quite right there..
My wildest fantasy dreams have come true. I'm in 2 fantasy league championships this week. I have never done this well before. I credit the schedule for allowing me to get wins when I shouldn't have.
My third fantasy team came in dead last. Time to start researching who will be my franchise pick..
Congratulations to Kate and Gabe on their newest addition. I don't know any of the details other than they were at the hospital last night.
My wife is really great. We've both been pretty stressed out with work and such the past couple of weeks. It's been harder on her because of the pregnancy. I don't think I could put up with all that she does.
The Broncos will probably miss the playoffs this season. Sure if they win one more game, or the Chargers lose 1 game they are automatically in, but here is how it will play out: They lose this week and the Chargers win. Then the final game is Broncos vs. Chargers. Chargers win and go to the playoffs with an 8-8 record, while teams that are much better (in terms of talent and record) will stay home. This won't change how the NFL does playoffs because this way there are meaningful games in the last week of the season (even if it is between teams that shouldn't be there)
I think for lunch today I will have sushi.

Things that feel great

2008-12-04T11:28:00.000-05:00

Catching a TD pass
Putting on underwear straight from the dryer (pants too)
Helping someone in need
Hearing your child's heartbeat

It amazes me everyday the stuff going on in Shayna's body.

Can I have a bailout too?

2008-11-20T08:41:00.000-05:00

CEOs take private jet to plead for bailout

That article infuriates me. Spend over 20k to fly to DC and then ask for money? Congress, I'll do one better, I'll take the metro down and plead for a bailout and I won't ask for nearly as much.

The problem with the initial "bailouts" is that now every company wants one. Oh the financial sector will crumble.. oh oh the auto industry will collapse.. oh oh oh the fish food market is unstable we need a bailout STAT.

Here is how the free market is supposed to work. You are in business. Times get tough, you cut back on expenses (perks should be the first to go.. like company breakfasts...on the private jet that you are flying every weekend). Not working out? Sell. If you can't make it, you file bankruptcy. Someone else buys up your assets at a discounted rate and then can trim the fat that you wouldn't / couldn't. The cars, banks, and fish food won't go away.. they would just be bought up by someone else.

Go Mason!

2008-11-17T23:22:00.000-05:00

My alma mater is finally making athletic strides. Sure there was that whole final four thing a couple years ago, but now they are the #1 up and coming school by US News & World Report.

They also got rid of Gunston and got this cheery fellow.

2-0.. only a couple more months until March.

Lyrics

2008-11-11T16:06:00.004-05:00

I don't usually post song lyrics. Music for some reason doesn't resonate with me quite like it does others. I like the beat and all but if I'm going to quote lyrics, they are usually Weird Al's.

That being said this song is resonating with me..

Well I just heard the news today

It seems my life is going to change

I closed my eyes, begin to pray

Then tears of joy stream down my face

Well I don't know if I'm ready

To be the man I have to be

I'll take a breath, I'll take her by my side

We stand in awe, we've created life

Now everything has changed

I'll show you love

I'll show you everything

With arms wide open

If I had just one wish

Only one demand

I hope he's not like me

I hope he understands

That he can take this life

And hold it by the hand

And he can greet the world

With arms wide open

Under the sunlight

Welcome to this place

I'll show you everything

With arms wide open

-With Arms Wide Open by Creed

Watching the game on NFL.com

2008-11-06T22:36:00.000-05:00

I'm glad that the NFL offers streaming for Thursday night games on the NFL network, however I have to say I'm kind of disappointed that they make commentary a priority over the game. During commercial breaks they go back to the studio to talk and then by the time they get to the game a drive is half way completed.

Oh well.. at least I don't have to pay for NFL network.

Henry trying to stay up late

2008-11-06T10:46:00.000-05:00

Our cat Henry trying so hard to stay awake..

True Story

2008-10-30T01:11:00.000-04:00

Death by Red Ring

2008-10-24T10:31:00.000-04:00

I had hoped by getting the 2nd generation motherboard I would be able to skip this whole red ring of death fiasco, but alas my Xbox has fallen to the death by red ring.

Probably the biggest bummer is that I had just bought about $25 worth of Rock Band songs and hadn't gotten a chance to play all of them yet.

Credit Crisis as an Antarctic Expedition

2008-10-21T14:37:00.000-04:00

Pretty good analogy of what the bail out plan's goal is..

The credit crisis as Antarctic expedition from Marketplace on Vimeo.

Best Debate Eva!

2008-10-17T13:04:00.000-04:00

I wish music videos were more like this..

2008-10-10T15:13:00.000-04:00

Couple things

2008-10-07T15:15:00.000-04:00

Today is October 7th which for some people is significant. It starts the McDonalds Monopoly game. I've already eaten a sweet tea, fries, and a southern style chicken sandwich and I can feel my arteries already starting to clog (along with my pancreas going into overdrive)

The facinating thing is that while driving home from said lunch I heard a commercial for the yellow pages..twice. This strikes me as very odd as I don't know a single person that uses the yellow pages anymore. I see stacks of unclaimed ones at office buildings. The last time I saw a phone book in action was on Mythbusters. Can't we have the phone book go the way of the floppy drive? Verizon, don't you think you should put your ad money in other, more effective, places? Like bring FIOS to me?

Sometimes being a puppy can be hard

2008-10-03T11:41:00.000-04:00

Especially when your head is to big for your body

10/1/2008

2008-10-01T00:37:00.000-04:00

31 years ago today my life changed. I didn't realize it then (most likely because I wasn't even a twinkle in my dad's eye at that point) but my life got better that day.

31 years ago today Shayna was born. A woman who makes me laugh, helps hold me up, and makes me feel good about who I am.

We've been together for almost 9 years now. It doesn't seem that long.. I truly am the most blessed man on this planet. Happy birthday dear.

Shayna's Thirty-First
Have a wonderful birthday
nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh

If you fall, I will catch you, I will be waiting

2008-09-18T13:57:00.000-04:00

I've blogged on this before, but I think one of the greatest things about marraige is having someone to lean on. Recently I've been down a lot. It's particularly difficult for me because I don't feel down very often. I think it's being caused by stresses at work and my sleep pattern (which was already been bad) is shot.

Every day though, my day brightens when Shayna comes home. There is no one I'd rather spend my evening and life with. I love you dear.

I've got a fever..

2008-09-11T02:46:00.001-04:00


	Make your own at MoreCowbell.dj

Put some cowbell into your mp3s..

This one turned out really well actually..


	Make your own at MoreCowbell.dj

Rickroll..err Barackroll?

2008-09-04T00:53:00.000-04:00

I don't think I ever really understood what was so funny about Rickrolls. I guess I'm getting old.
This however did amuse me.

What's that noise?

2008-09-02T00:50:00.001-04:00

bom bom bom bom Off in the distance I hear a faint noise. bom bom bom bom It's barely perceptible, but it is definitely there. bom bom bom bom It sounds like drums..Indian (or Native American if you prefer) war drums. They are getting louder though. bom bom bom bom It's approaching.. bom bom bom bom

Oh Joy!

2008-08-25T18:42:00.000-04:00

Boy does this bring back memories..

Want to play ninja turtles or just ninjas?

2008-08-25T10:01:00.001-04:00

Kids sometimes ask the most awesome questions.

Steeplechase?

2008-08-19T23:55:00.000-04:00

I watched the steeplechase race on nbcolympics.com. I had no idea such a race existed. I was hoping that the "unmovable" barriers would catch the pack of runners but alas, no such luck.

Does it seem to anyone else that they started making up events while drunk? "Let's have a hurdle race where one of the hurdles has a puddle of water!"

Favre, you are so hosed

2008-08-13T00:26:00.000-04:00

Mr. Favre, Brett.. Perhaps you should thing about retiring again. Things were already going to be bad for you this season. You made the cover of Maddon '09. I know what you were thinking. You were thinking "Madden isn't in this version, I can break the curse."

And then you found a nice little loop hole. The Favre on the cover is wearing a Packers jersey. Certainly that Favre will have a bad season, but if you played for a different team the curse wouldn't haunt you. Unfortunately, Sams Club and Walmart have both annouced they will print new covers with you in a Jets uniform right in the store.

This can only end poorly for you. Perhaps you should walk away while you still can.. Barry did and he seems pretty happy.

Olympics

2008-08-09T01:11:00.000-04:00

I just finished watching the openeing of the Olympics. Watching the olympics in general is something my family has always kind of done. Shayna's family never really got into them. Since we've been together though, I've gotten her hooked.

I love the idea of the olympics..that for at least a little time the nations come together to compete. The politics, while still present, are mostly left at home.

The cermonies for this games were particularly interesting. Most enjoyable parts:

Light drums
Fireworks
the scroll

Does anybody else watch them? What were your favorite parts?

Hulu?

2008-08-05T13:18:00.002-04:00

I just discovered Hulu which is kind of like youtube only it contains material from major networks. It's ad supported so it's free for me..and they have movies which is also kind of neat.

I hadn't seen this clip before but it's funny..not Lazy Sunday funny..but funny

Pictures

2008-07-30T00:40:00.000-04:00

It's almost 1 am and I'm sitting at my desk looking at pictures of Shayna and I. I have one from a birthday party she threw me at the ESPN zone, one from NCC ball, and one from Lurray Caverns. Looking at them makes me think back to those early times...

It really doesn't seem like 8 years. The picture from the NCC ball is the same night that we officially started dating.

One thing that I've always been able to do is make her laugh. She claims that it isn't easy to make her laugh but I had her on the first date. I love seeing her smile..

Sorry this post is just random thoughts..as I'm working all I can think about is going to bed and sleeping next to her.

For something more amusing / interesting you can check out the following:
http://www.defendersofstan.com/
http://www.freewebarcade.com/game/totem-destroyer

Small World

2008-07-25T23:32:00.000-04:00

Whenever I'm on facebook I always look at the "discover people you may know section" to see what friends my friends have added and if I know them.

Anyways, there is this girl who shows up on the list and I have no idea who she is..I look at her profile and she is actually friends with a client, a girl I worked with in college, and a girl I go to church with now. 3 completely different networks all intereact with this person.

I find it interesting how even though there are billions of people in the world, most of us are still within 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon..or even from some random person on facebook. Maybe after this whole internet thing takes off we won't be seeing how far we are from someone but how many ways we can get to them (I know I have at least 2 ways to get to Mr. Bacon)

Old dog teaching old tricks

2008-07-25T23:21:00.000-04:00

While in Florida last week, I got to spend 3 days with my dad and step mother. It was a wonderful time as we ate, watched movies and played games. Whenever we would go out, my dad would always open the car door for my step mother. My dad did this when I was younger and for quite a while I did it with Shayna as well. Then we got a car with the remote lock and the practice faded.

Tonight Shayna and I went on a date and took Mr. Car and his non remote locks..I opened the car door for Shayna and it felt good to get back to more chivalrous times. I think I'm going to get rid of my remote lock.

You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks..but sometimes the old dog can teach the young one some tricks they forgot.

Football

2008-07-25T11:51:00.000-04:00

I genreally try and limit football related posts because I think people find it mostly boring. However, 2 things I found out recently made me want to share.

The first is Rod Smith retiring. Rod was an undrafted WR for the Broncos and was probably their best ever. He has team records, and was known for his work ethic. He was pretty much all that remained from the Super Bowls they won. It doesn't seem that long ago..but then again..I don't play professional football.

The second thing that really interested me was a new offensive philosphy making it's way around HS football. It's called the A-11 which stands for All 11. In it they don't use offense linemen..they line up a center, 2 offset tightends, 6 wideouts and 2 QBs. The premise is that any one can be an eligible receiver. It's an interesting concept, and might be used as a "gadget play" in college / professional football but I don't think it will really take off. If the DE keep contain it's basically all screen passes.

2 Things

2008-07-17T00:28:00.000-04:00

First, a big shoutout to the Rice clan for their new addition Samuel Bartlett. Congratulations guys!

Second, today we went swimming with the manatees. Capt Jake from Nature Coast Charter took us out and it was a fantastic time. The water was a little murky so we would swim and then all of a sudden be face to face with a ginormous manatee. They were very docile and if you are ever in Florida for a couple of days I highly recommend giving Capt Jake a call.

I'm sure Shayna will have more on the excursion as well as pictures.

Rough times

2008-07-09T09:30:00.000-04:00

I'm currently speeding with reckless abandon towards a project deadline which means late nights and early mornings to make sure all questions are answers and QC is done. I'm not complaining, far from it. It's just that when I saw this picture it was totally me.

So much like my wife I will post a lol cat.

more cat pictures

How does that work?

2008-06-29T23:57:00.000-04:00

On the way to Pittsburgh I saw a billboard for a "vegetarian deli". It must be me, but I thought those two things were opposites. Every deli I've been to has been anything but vegetarian.

In other news, my wife is awesome. I'm just sayin.

Sometimes she gets on my nerves (that's for you Nancy).

Congrats to a friend of mine who got a job recently. I won't say who they are, but if you know who they are then you will know that they got a job. Unfortunately, in DC, you have to phrase things like this.

That's all for now.

I'm a nerd

2008-06-27T22:37:00.002-04:00

I found out that beta blogger is coming out with a bunch of new features that are still in testing use. So I of course enabled some of them. The most prevalent to the readers is an inline comment system. So now instead of going to a different page or to a popup, the comments are right in line with the post.

In other news, Shayna and I are going to be going to Pittsburgh to spend some time with family and friends up there. During this time I will be working while she is visiting.

Then we have a week in Northern VA and then a week in sunny Orlando. After that I think all of our traveling for the summer is done.

GPS followup

2008-06-24T11:50:00.003-04:00

Mio has released a technology preview of the GPS unit I was talking about earlier. I wonder if Carl will be one of the names they put in the database. Probably not..

Why are you telling me this?

2008-06-24T07:01:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I was grabbing a Starbucks drink for Shayna because she didn't have time. Right after I ordered the guy working there started saying how tired he was. This struck me in 2 ways:

What kind of response are you expecting? Should I feel OK if the order is wrong because you didn't get enough sleep last night? I'm not a co-worker or even a friend, I'm a paying customer. Isn't the Starbucks experience that to me everything is sunshine and rainbows?
You work in a place, for the most part, specializes in serving drinks that are designed to wake you up. You sell being awake...use it!

For the most part, my experience at Starbucks is not like this one. For the most part I wouldn't have cared if the cashier told me they were tired, but I think I just found it odd that they would be tired here.

Oh my goodness

2008-06-21T08:37:00.000-04:00

I've been resisting the urge to get a GPS device. I don't really need one because I know where I'm going 95% of the time, however the geekiness in me loves gadgets. This GPS might be the one for me.

A Gordon post

2008-06-08T01:21:00.000-04:00

Greeting from rainy Minnesota (don't ya know)! It's been a while since I blogged..I keep meaning to get back into it, but it always seems to fall by the wayside. I'm in Minnesota for my brother's wedding. It's weird seeing my brother..whenever I think of him I think of the 12 year old kid I knew when I left for college.

He's all growed up now and it's awesome to see the man he's become. Hopefully I'll get some wedding pictures up soon.

A Shayna post

2008-06-06T01:25:00.003-04:00

I'm currently in Minnesota for my brother's wedding. Before I came out here I wrote the toast I was going to present to them. To prepare, I watched my wedding video. As I sat there watching my beautiful wife walk down the "aisle" I thought about how I am the luckiest man in the world.

I have found someone that puts up with all the stupid stuff I do, that wants to do any little thing to make me happy as I try and make others happy over myself, that can say 3 things she appreciates about me every day..even when we've only spent an hour together that day.

She is an amazing woman..I certainly don't deserve her..but I'll take her.

Who's got the time?

2008-05-22T12:30:00.003-04:00

Today for lunch I had some frozen burritos. The instructions were to heat them at 50% power for 2 minutes and then full power for one minute in the microwave. Alternatively you could cook them for 40 minutes in the oven.

40 minutes. Seriously? Nearly an hour to defrost some food? How did people function 50 years ago? Granted, I'm sure the oven open doesn't include the nice frozen surprise the microwave option gave me, but still when you factor in time, electricity (or gas) to cook 2 crappy frozen burritos I don't see how they did it.

I guess the answer is that they didn't have crappy frozen burritos to cook..they just made burritos..

How did that happen?

2008-04-30T10:38:00.002-04:00

On my way to work the other day I was on the inner loop heading towards 66. On the left shoulder was a car, facing against traffic, with it's right 2 tires up on the dividing wall. The driver was still in the car. I have no idea how that happened..just thought it was interesting.

Wowsers

2008-04-30T00:39:00.004-04:00

Just read on Joystiq that the Wii version of the new Ghostbusters game will allow you to use a DS as a PKE meter.

I don't know whether I should get the Wii version or the 360 version.

Yes, the nerd card is current.

Quick Hits

2008-04-27T22:54:00.002-04:00

It's been awhile since I last blogged (almost a full month actually) so I figure I'll throw out some quick hits to get the ol' blog goin.

The NFL draft was this weekend. I didn't watch it but I am glad we picked up some linemen and a WR. Hopefully this one pans out.
I took my car to the shop almost 2 weeks ago to have the brakes worked on as well as have an over heating issue fixed. I go to get my car and the stereo was stolen. Who steals a crappy stereo out of a crappy car?
Mr. Car, I'm sorry for calling you crappy.
I don't know if I'll ever get used to this "work a couple hours at midnight" schedule.
My brother's wedding is coming up soon. I'm the best man and need to provide the wedding toast. I'm thinking wheat with strawberry jelly.

That's all I got for now..hopefully I'll have something insight full this week.

Tipping point

2008-04-02T09:49:00.003-04:00

Those that know Shayna and I know that we've been together for a long time. Today is actually our 4 year wedding anniversary. Tomorrow starts a completely new phase for us though. Tomorrow will be the first day that's we've been married longer than when we were dating.

Time has flown by. It doesn't seem that long ago that we were in college and our big dates consisted of driving to Potomac Mills, getting gas for $1 a gallon, having dinner at one of the local places and catching a movie.

There isn't a single person that I would rather have spent my last 8 years with and I'm looking forward to what the next 13 years bring. (Once we've been together 21 years, I will have been with her for over half my life!)

I love you dear. Happy Anniversary.

Link

2008-03-28T11:20:00.003-04:00

14 Ways to Affair Proof Your Marraige

Guys, this is good stuff. I highly recommend it.

I heart being unplugged

2008-03-24T11:52:00.002-04:00

For spring break Shayna and I went to Gatlinburg, TN for vacation. Our close personal friends Dave and Jen joined us and Dave has a great blog post regarding it. The part I liked the most I think, was being completely unplugged from the world. Shayna and I promised each other that there would be no work calls and no email of any sort. Being the techno-dweebs that we are, this required quite a bit of planning.

For me, I had to set away messages on pretty much everything (which isn't a lot, but still a pain). For Shayna though, it was much more difficult. She has friends that she corresponds with every day, so she actually made e-cards for them for each day and then set them to send once per day. Obviously the level of dedication that she has to her friends is much more than I have. I think most of my friends didn't even realize I was on vacation...

The overall experience was great though. If anyone has the means to unplug like this I highly recommend it. Part of me would like to make it a ritual every Saturday, but I don't know if I could pull that off..

Other highlights from the week:

Eating at the Peddler Restaurant (currently my favorite)
Getting Dave hooked on Magic: The Gathering (I don't think he will publicly admit it, but he likes the game more than Chinese water torture which most people would probably prefer)
The cold ascension of Mt. LeConte
Jacuzzi tub
White Cream Pillows (it's a doughnut you sickos)

the hell??

2008-03-11T13:47:00.002-04:00

I'm proud of the team..need to question the admission office's choices though..

Broncos News

2008-02-29T23:09:00.002-05:00

With free agency starting, the broncos have cut Javon Walker and Ian Gold. Walker was acquired in a trade with Green Bay 2 years ago and he started out doing really well. This past season Walker was injured a lot..I think it's kind of surprising that he's gone. We now have one decent wideout..

Gold is a linebacker who started strong but then fizzled quickly. That one's not as much of a surprise.

Hope we make the playoffs next year.

The story of the stupid installer

2008-02-29T01:35:00.002-05:00

One of the products that my company sells is Microsoft CRM. It's OK if you don't know what that is. It's not really all that important to the story. What is important is that it integrates with Outlook. To integrate it you need to run this install file.

So you run the install file and after a while it's done installing. You then need to go into outlook to configure it. When you open outlook here is a big helpful button saying "configure CRM for outlook". Click that button and it starts the configuration wizard.

Here is where the stupid part comes in. To configure that add on application, you need to click that button and then exit Outlook. If you don't the configuration wizard will stop about half way through and tell you it can't continue because Outlook is open. But the only place to click the button to configure the thing is inside outlook.

So just to recap. Open outlook. Click the configure button. Close outlook. Open task manager just to verify that outlook really did close. Then finish the configuration manager.

This is only irritating because I've been doing it for the past 2 hours..

The 'Teet

2008-02-25T22:41:00.002-05:00

Living in our new space means getting used to new things. One of these new things is a completely different grocery store. We no longer have the trusty Giant or the age old Safeway right around the corner. Here it's Harris Teeter or as I've come to call it: The 'Teet.

The 'Teet is a pretty good grocery store as far as grocery stores go. They seem to have all of the necessary items. Today I found a buy 1 get 1 free on cat litter. 42 lbs of litter for $10 is really good! They don't seem to have a very large soy section though, but then Giant didn't either.

Shayna doesn't like the new nickname, but I think it's great. Hopefully I'll get the name to stick..

LentDate

2008-02-21T15:37:00.003-05:00

Shayna and I participate in lent even though we aren't Catholic. This year I've taken on not drinking anything except water. This includes coffee, tea, soda, juice, etc. This is particularly tough because I usually drink a sode in the middle of the day to help keep me awake. Normally when we do lent I end up finding a replacement for the thing I'm giving up (which probably misses the point entirely). When I gave up chinese food, I replaced it with quiznos.

I figured this year I wouldn't be able to find a replacement because there wouldn't be one. All I can drink is water. Well, I've found a replacement. I hadn't noticied it until today but I have been getting a Wegman's chocolate chip cookie with lunches. This provides the sugar fix I need to stay awake. Today I didn't have lunch at wegman's but then I found myself driving there merely for the cookie.

I don't know why but I have a hard time letting God fill in where the sacrifice is. So for the rest of Lent I'm debating if I should give up the cookies as well. If I do, at this rate by the last week I'll be fasting just like Jesus..

Back on the Air

2008-02-18T13:38:00.003-05:00

It was a long weekend but it's finally done. Everything is moved (with the slight exception of some stuff on the patio). TV & Internet are hooked up. Nothing is put away.

Shoutouts to all of the friends and family who helped us move. In no particular order:

Rachel
Julie
David
Peter
Betsy
Kellie
Marie
Schnep
Rich

If I forgot anyone please forgive me. After all this lifting my head hurts..

We look forward to having all of you over for a Rock Band blowout!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T12:18:00.002-05:00

I know most people don't dig Valentine's day. It's very commercialized (show her you love her with this $500 diamond pendant), it really sucks if you don't have someone, and the primary color is pink (which should revoke any right to it being considered a holiday all on it's own).

For the most part I haven't liked the holiday either. The primary reason being that I never had a valentine. So I told myself that if I ever had the opportunity to have a person willing to be my valentine I would do it right.

Each year, for the past 7 years, I've been blessed to have Shayna as my valentine. I love her just a little bit more each day. I honestly can say that I don't know what my life would be like without her.

Thank you for being my valentine dear.

Indiana Jones Trailer is out

2008-02-14T12:17:00.001-05:00

Wow..all I can say is that this movie is going to rock my face off..

Welcome to the wonderful world of TheWilli.net

2008-02-05T14:59:00.001-05:00

I don't know if this will have an impact on RSS readers or not, but the blog has officially changed. No longer crazykarl7.blogspot.com, it's now carl.thewilli.net.

Both addresses take you to the same place. Coming soon:

shayna.thewilli.net
sneakyandthebandit.thewilli.net
yourmom.thewilli.net
okthisisdumbnow.thewilli.net

M. Night Shamalama ding dong

2008-02-04T23:28:00.000-05:00

M. Night has a new movie coming out this year. Pretty much you either really like what this guy does or you don't. If you do you can check out the teaser trailer for "The Happening".

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/02/04/m-night-shyamalans-the-happening-teaser-trailer/

2 guns beats a knife

2008-01-29T22:04:00.001-05:00

On the way home from work today I heard a news article about a 72 year old man that was mugged by a 27 year old. The 72 year old man is an ex-marine as well as a golden glove winner. He beat the crap out of the mugger.

Welcome to the gun show kid.

It really made me smile because it reminded me of my grandfather. That's the sort of thing he would have done. I think secretly he would have wanted someone to try stuff like that with him.

Anyways, there is a picture on the interweb of the mugger's mug shot..you can see his busted up nose. He better make up a good story while in jail. Getting owned by a grandpa won't win you much cred in the clink.

After almost 8 years it has happened

2008-01-24T13:25:00.000-05:00

In April, Shayna and I will have been together for 8 years (married for 4). When we first met I had a very bland sense of taste. I wasn't a fan of spice at all. To put it into perspective, the medium sauce packet at Taco Bell would be my threshold (I don't really eat taco bell but I imagine medium would have been my breaking point).

Today I actually made myself a lunch that was too bland. I didn't think it was possible. But apparently the rice and chicken combo today was it..it definitely needs some kick.

Good job dear. You've finally broken me down. :-)

Super Sunday

2008-01-21T20:56:00.000-05:00

Well after the dust has settled, the final game is set. I was hoping that the packers would prevail from a story line perspective, but if Eli ends up winning this game he could be the better manning which would be a great story line as well..

I'm still pulling for the 19-0 story though. Mostly because it's history. 25 years from now people won't really talk about Eli winning the big game..but if the patriots win they take the place of the greatest team ever. More dominant than the 84 Bears, more perfect than the 72 Dolphins. Of course if they lose they will be just the latest team with the super potent passing offense that couldn't come through in the final game.

The Giants played the Patriots very well in week 17..I expect just as good a game this time.

Why can't I get a domain that I want?

2008-01-17T23:59:00.000-05:00

I was looking over some of the features that blogspot came up with this past year and noticed they make it easy to have a domain forwarded to your blog. This is great because I had been thinking about getting a domain with custom email addresses and the like.

So first I look up willis. Of course that's taken by an insurance firm. Stupid insurance.
Next up willi. That's taken but doesn't even have a page associated to it. What's the point?
This time I got it.. thewilli..nope that's taken too..by a Willis family who has a blog (called Chronicles of the Willi)! It looks like a nice blog and I will probably start reading it.

Curse you Todd Bridges for making our name so popular!

All this poses a very interesting question (at least to me)..

What should my domain be? I would like it to be something that my whole family can use. Or is this just a new age vanity plate that I should just forget about (vanity plates cost significantly more I might add)?

I guess I could use ImALoserBecauseIwaitedSoLongtoGetaWillisdomain.com That's got a nice ring to it..

What a weekend

2008-01-14T11:15:00.000-05:00

This weekend was outstanding. Starting Friday evening Shayna and I had a date and went to see the movie "The Bucket List". One of those movies where you know you are going to cry at the end. Still, it wasn't bad. The beginning of the movie where Jack Nicholson is surely is especially funny.

Saturday was my birthday party. Lots of people joined Shayna and I at Sezchuan East for lunch. Then some came back to our apartment to play rock band. It was a lot of fun to play with a full band of people. Supposedly they are coming out with a lights & smoke machine attachment this summer. I'll start saving my money now..

Shayna got me Guitar hero so that we could have 2 guitars. I think everyone who played base appreciated it. :-)

After rocking out and getting headaches there was football on TV. The packers won in a snow game which was fun to watch and then the pats blew out the jags.

Sunday I enjoyed watching the chargers beat the colts (especially after that colts fans booed the 12 year old girl for wearing a patriots jersey..show some class). I'm especially looking forward to the patriots beating the snot out of that butt hole Phillip Rivers.

Then the giants beat the cowboys which was also quite exciting.

Overall it was a fantastic birthday weekend. Thank you to everyone who was part of it, especially Shayna who orchestrated everything.

Wild card weekend bust

2008-01-06T23:39:00.001-05:00

Out of 4 games this weekend I cared about the outcome of 3 of them. Of course the 3 teams I didn't want to win (seaducks, sparklers, hags) all won. At least the games weren't blowouts.

Other than that it was a good weekend. I missed Shayna's improv debut because I had already made plans to see the skins game with my close personal friend Cris. I hear she was quite funny though. (I take no credit, she came like that).

New drinking game. Everyone play!

2008-01-04T21:53:00.000-05:00

All of the political caucus type stuff has me thinking we should play a drinking game. Everytime someone mentions they want "change" take a shot of root beer.

I've become the stupid help desk call..

2007-12-20T01:39:00.000-05:00

For a couple weeks the touchpad on my laptop hasn't worked. It mostly has no impact on me since I use a mouse 99.44% of the time. However, it's a new laptop and I felt that everything should work so I wanted to get it serviced before the warranty ran out.

Today I called Toshiba, explained my issue, was given a help ticket number and put into the queue. It didn't take long before I was greeted with the first level tech support person. Spent 5 minutes verifying the information I had given the operator. I do this calmly hoping that we can get through the diagnostic quickly and he can point me to a place to get my laptop serviced. I am after all a tech guy and I know that this thing needs to be fixed.

He then told me to push the "FN" key (as opposed to the f-in key) and then hit "F9". I do so and in big bright letters it says "Touch Pad Enabled"

Apparently I'm now the guy who calls in saying that their cupholder is broken..

When did naming conventions get all screwed up?

2007-12-19T11:19:00.000-05:00

It used to be so simple. There was small, medium, large. Then they brought in extra large. That concept seemed simple enough.

It's different now though. Now, if you're lucky you have medium and large. If you're not, you have tall, grande, and venti. Tall is small? If we go with things that rhyme should large be barge? (I'll have a big mac, fries and a barge size coke please..actually that's pretty accurate..)

I'm looking at postage rates today. First class is the cheapest. Then there is express, priority, express priority and double super secret express priority. Since first class takes the longest, shouldn't it be called last class; or class right above post cards but right below junk mail?

Ok, I'll stop whining now.

An interesting evening

2007-12-17T00:46:00.000-05:00

Tonight was Shayna and I's date night. We try to go on a date every week..tonight was dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant, zoo lights, and a visit to the national Christmas Tree. The restaurant we were going to go to was a place called Red Sea in Adam's Morgan. Shayna had eaten there before and was really looking forward to having some fine Ethiopian cuisine. Doing a Google search yielded the address as well as some reviews (seemed to get 4 out of 5 stars/thumbs/whatever)

So after a couple wrong turns (thanks Google) and about an hour later we make it up to 18th St NW only to find that the restaurant no longer exits.. Shayna was really looking forward to this Ethiopian restaurant. I offer to eat anywhere else on this strip, and point to the McDonald's. :-) We end up finding another Ethiopian restaurant on that street.

While I'm glad I tried Ethiopian, I must say that I don't think I will eat it very much in the future. I'm sure the restaurant is a great restaurant, just the style didn't seem to suit me. Shayna also felt a little let down. So dinner was a bit of a bust, but it didn't matter we had more to do!

Zoo lights (if you have gone to the link above) seems like it would be a really cool idea. We love Christmas light displays, and they have hot cocoa, hot cider, and smores there.

The lights were pretty rudimentary, the cocoa/cider/smores weren't free (which I kind of thought they would be) and the smores were actually made in a microwave (to make sure no fires broke out) So we were a little disappointed by the trip to Zoo lights as well.

No matter, we have the National Tree! The tree actually went well. We saw the tree, trains, and Yule Log. It was nice.

So even though 2 out of 3 parts of the date was a disappointment, I wouldn't have traded it for anything..I got to be with Shayna the whole time.

2 posts in a week? The world must be coming to an end.

2007-12-08T19:48:00.000-05:00

I think one of the tougher things about marriage is that it's very easy to take your spouse for granted. You see and talk to them every day. It's easy to start thinking that they will always be there.

Last night, my wife offered to do something which was very difficult for her. It would have been a big sacrifice on her part and I love how she is willing to do anything for me. I'm not going to go into details of what it was, but it really touched me.

I take her for granted and she puts herself on the line for me. It reminds me of other relationships I have. I think every Christian can relate...

Wow, has it been that long?

2007-12-06T23:34:00.001-05:00

The last time I posted something was Oct. 30th. I can't believe over a month has passed since then.

I just discovered some of the cool features of the updated nfl.com website. If the game is on NFL network you can stream it. They also have a game called Call the Play where you call what the play is going to be.

This is amazing to me on 2 fronts. The first is that it keeps up with the game amazingly well. I only got to do it for the final 2 minutes of the Skins-bears game but I was surprised how fast it knew the results and tallied the score.

Why can't the gamecaster be that efficient?

In other news, Christmas is coming up. News flash I know. It's my first holiday season without Pop-pop though. One of the things I loved was going home and seeing my grandparents during the holidays. Time to make new traditions I guess..

Lastly, I have to give a shoutout to my wife. Tonight she was cleaning up the kitchen and I stood in the doorway where we have mistletoe. We shared a passionate kiss and embrace that brought us both to tears. I can't tell you why really..just that for some reason it was a passionate moment.

Soooo...where do I turn in my man card?

Blueberry, cornbread muffins

2007-10-30T11:27:00.000-04:00

It's kinda cold in the office today. I wish I had some wristies so that my hands could be warm but I still would maintain finger dexterity while typing.

This post is dedicated to my wife. A woman who makes me laugh, a woman who makes me smile, a woman who holds me accountable, a woman who makes me better.

Thank you for being more than I could have dreamed of dear.

I love you

On this day

2007-10-01T09:59:00.000-04:00

On October 1st:

The Model T automobile was introduced by Henry Ford.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened
Roger Maris hits his 61st home run to beat Babe Ruth's record
Johnny Carson began hosting the "Tonight" show
Walt Disney World Opened in Orlando
Shayna Willis was born.

The most exciting event out of all of them was Shayna being born.

Happy Birthday dear, I love you!