.... I haven't blogged in awhile because things have been pretty much the same around here. We've been enjoying our time off, and haven't done a whole lot. No big plans for New Years Eve either ...
I stayed up until a little after 6:00 AM with Jackie last night watching Season 6 - Part II of The Sopranos. For those of you that haven't seen this show (and aren't in Iraq) I highly recommend renting/buying/borrowing (I have all six seasons) these DVDs. Whatever you do, don't try to watch it on A&E, this is one of the few examples where the language and violence is essential for developing the mood and characters and aren't just tacked on to draw in the hordes of bloodthirsty movie goers (which are numerous right now if the onslaught of increasingly over-the-top gory horror movies coming out is any indication).
I'm sure 99% of the people that read my blog are closed-minded to watching The Sopranos and are probably pretty sure that it isn't their cup of tea. Let's just say that someone close to me whom will remain anonymous (people that haven't seen the show also seem to have a negative view of people that watch it) didn't think they would like it and ended up becoming a big fan. It is IMO, and many other peoples, the best TV show in history ... and the controversial ending was nothing short of brilliant. You can argue about what might have happened when the screen when black or whether this was a cop-out, but no one can argue that they didn't feel very anxious through that last scene ... kind of like Tony felt everyday .... hmm.
While I'm on the subject of defending TV/movies that others have slammed, The Blair Witch Project is the best Thriller of all time. The pacing was terrific, the camera style was revolutionary (reality TV was just getting started and this arguably paved the way for The Office's "mockumentry" camera style - in fact when the movie debuted at Cannes several people though it was an actual documentary) and the ending was terrifying (I loved how the footage switched between the camcorder and the 16mm camera that had no audio) culminating with Mike standing in the corner - awesome!
In fact I think the reason The Blair Witch Project wasn't more popular is because the majority of movie goers are dumb and just didn't get it (this may make me sound like a pompous ass, but it's the truth - just look at the top ten movies any given week and tell me this isn't true). The Sopranos faced a similar fate - those that wanted Tony to die in the final episode didn't get what the whole show was about - big smart me honestly knew this wasn't going to happen prior to watching the finale.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Christmas Recap
Well Christmas has come and gone but the day lives on in the form of machine gun fire and grenade reverberations emanating from the basement. Carlos got his hallowed Xbox 360 for Christmas and all is right in the world. The basement is complete, there's a big TV down there and when Carlos comes up for food and water he resembles Gollum and mumbles about his precious. For those of you that have lived through or heard about my obsession with the Terror Drome it was kind of like that. One Christmas when I was younger I had my eye set on King Cobra's hive of villainy; the Terror Drome. I began my propaganda campaign around Thanksgiving by mentioning at least daily that I really wanted the Terror Drome. As time progressed I began to cut out pictures of the Terror Drome from the Sunday circulars. I would lovingly stare at a caress my cut outs each morning as I ate my crazy toast (Mom's specialty) before school. I would take any opportunity to tell anyone listening, and increasingly those who weren't, about the Terror Drome's many features and its place in any healthy well adjusted boy's life. Terror Drome, Terror Drome, Terror Drome.
Well all I can say is karma came back in the form of the Xbox 360 and Halo 3 tenfold because this my friends is the digital age. Carlos bested me in every category. Sunday circular cutouts - bleh - how about getting emails from your son with links to videos that some kid in Texas took of a Halo 3 online death match where he single handedly disarmed a Covenant elite and used the Warhammer to take out the whole other team - yeah! How about checking out Halo 3 wallpapers on his laptop that change everyday while getting the play by play of everything that is happening in the shot including background stories on each of the characters and the landscape. I don't know my wife's cellphone number but I know all about "The Flood". I can't locate a word in the dictionary without reciting the entire alphabet, but I know which guns you can dual-wield.
But I found, as I'm sure my parents and older sisters did, that it's all worth it in the end. He was totally stoked and today we got Xbox Live hooked up so he could battle it out online. This was a biggy for me, not because of the hazards found online (Microsoft does a lot of work keep Live kid-friendly) but because I knew this would usher in one more dimension of crap I'd have to fix when it breaks. We had our first experience with this as we were getting things ready and found out how poorly Microsoft put together the Xbox Live setup. I had to lower our router's security settings after finding out that they flat out lied on their packaging and said they supported a mode they do not, and we also had to jump through hoops to create an account. The whole thing was very frustrating and it is the perfect example of how Microsoft has stretched themselves too thin in my opinion. Drop the iPod wannabe Zune, drop the videogame stuff you started to compete with Sony, drop the performance crippling graphical glitz in Vista so you can compete with OS X, and write some decent software! Wow, sorry .... if I keep up the techie rants I'm going to lose my half a dozen readers ....
Anyways, Carlos was quite pleased and Jack is too young to do anything but he did do quite well on the trip to Carrie's parent's house. I got the Rosetta Stone Spanish version which I'm excited about. I had been talking about it for literally 3 years but was always turned off by the steep price tag. Carrie splurged and got it for me though (along with some other goodies, one of which I using right now to type this :)).
Well now that I've covered all the material possessions, I can talk about all the time we spent talking about Aunt Sarah and how she isn't spending the holidays with her family because of the commitment she made. I'm sure we weren't the only ones whose mind she was on. We love you Sarah and hope you had a Merry Christmas. Do you need any more Garbanzo beans? How about some Chili stuff?? Have you fed the entire Army yet??? :)
Well all I can say is karma came back in the form of the Xbox 360 and Halo 3 tenfold because this my friends is the digital age. Carlos bested me in every category. Sunday circular cutouts - bleh - how about getting emails from your son with links to videos that some kid in Texas took of a Halo 3 online death match where he single handedly disarmed a Covenant elite and used the Warhammer to take out the whole other team - yeah! How about checking out Halo 3 wallpapers on his laptop that change everyday while getting the play by play of everything that is happening in the shot including background stories on each of the characters and the landscape. I don't know my wife's cellphone number but I know all about "The Flood". I can't locate a word in the dictionary without reciting the entire alphabet, but I know which guns you can dual-wield.
But I found, as I'm sure my parents and older sisters did, that it's all worth it in the end. He was totally stoked and today we got Xbox Live hooked up so he could battle it out online. This was a biggy for me, not because of the hazards found online (Microsoft does a lot of work keep Live kid-friendly) but because I knew this would usher in one more dimension of crap I'd have to fix when it breaks. We had our first experience with this as we were getting things ready and found out how poorly Microsoft put together the Xbox Live setup. I had to lower our router's security settings after finding out that they flat out lied on their packaging and said they supported a mode they do not, and we also had to jump through hoops to create an account. The whole thing was very frustrating and it is the perfect example of how Microsoft has stretched themselves too thin in my opinion. Drop the iPod wannabe Zune, drop the videogame stuff you started to compete with Sony, drop the performance crippling graphical glitz in Vista so you can compete with OS X, and write some decent software! Wow, sorry .... if I keep up the techie rants I'm going to lose my half a dozen readers ....
Anyways, Carlos was quite pleased and Jack is too young to do anything but he did do quite well on the trip to Carrie's parent's house. I got the Rosetta Stone Spanish version which I'm excited about. I had been talking about it for literally 3 years but was always turned off by the steep price tag. Carrie splurged and got it for me though (along with some other goodies, one of which I using right now to type this :)).
Well now that I've covered all the material possessions, I can talk about all the time we spent talking about Aunt Sarah and how she isn't spending the holidays with her family because of the commitment she made. I'm sure we weren't the only ones whose mind she was on. We love you Sarah and hope you had a Merry Christmas. Do you need any more Garbanzo beans? How about some Chili stuff?? Have you fed the entire Army yet??? :)
Satiating the Public
Well I've received several requests to post more pictures of Jack, so I'll post a few. There are several things that are working against posting more pictures. For one, it's difficult to catch him at times when he's doing something interesting. He does stay awake for longer periods of time already, but it seems that every time we get the camera out and get ready to snap a picture he closes his eyes or poops on us. Of the several "photo-ops" there are only a few pictures that are post-worthy. Secondly, since I am the main contributer to this blog, and I'm a dude, I'm hesitant to post a bunch of pictures and say "look at how wonderful my child is". It's just not my style. But since there have been several requests, here we go. Carlos took this one today which I think is the best picture we've captured thus far:
Jack seems to smile sometimes, but to be honest it doesn't seem to be in reaction to any stimulus, more of just a side effect of him testing out all his new muscles. I continue to enjoy the schedule and don't find it to be too bad, I like staying up late and don't need a ton of sleep. I realize that I must sound like a gigantic ass to some parents, which is why I must mention how fortunate I am to be able to work from home and have flexible hours. But the occasional nap never hurt anyone:
Mom's a good cuddler too:
Jack seems to smile sometimes, but to be honest it doesn't seem to be in reaction to any stimulus, more of just a side effect of him testing out all his new muscles. I continue to enjoy the schedule and don't find it to be too bad, I like staying up late and don't need a ton of sleep. I realize that I must sound like a gigantic ass to some parents, which is why I must mention how fortunate I am to be able to work from home and have flexible hours. But the occasional nap never hurt anyone:
Mom's a good cuddler too:
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Getting Into a Routine
Well Jack's a little over 2 weeks old and I think Carrie and I are starting to get into a bit of a routine. She goes to bed around 10:00 and I stay up with Jack until around 3:00, then sleep until 7 or 8. After his bottle at midnight, he is usually pretty sleepy so I get to do some work. A few weeks ago I was a workaholic because I would occasionally stay up until the wee hours of the morning writing code. Now I'm a supportive husband that is helping out with baby duty (and I get to write some code as a side-effect. :) Tonight he was a bit fussy when I tried to lay him down, so I have him strapped to my chest in the Baby Bjorn thingy. It's starting to make my lower back sore but I guess I can start complaining after I've held him here for 38.5 weeks with no break...
Monday, December 17, 2007
While I'm on the Military Kick ...
...I thought I'd post this picture that was sent to all of us at Aechelon.
It's a picture taken in Iraq of the first MV-22 to make it over. When Carrie and I worked at Patuxent River we saw these flying around base all the time, as Pax River is a Naval Test Range where the Navy tests out a lot of the new aircraft prior to them entering service.
More recently my company worked as a subcontractor to provide the visual system for the trainers located at MCAS New River where these pilots train and the picture was passed along to us.
Here's an article discussing the deployment.
It's a picture taken in Iraq of the first MV-22 to make it over. When Carrie and I worked at Patuxent River we saw these flying around base all the time, as Pax River is a Naval Test Range where the Navy tests out a lot of the new aircraft prior to them entering service.
More recently my company worked as a subcontractor to provide the visual system for the trainers located at MCAS New River where these pilots train and the picture was passed along to us.
Here's an article discussing the deployment.
Update From Sarah
My sister Sarah sent a few pictures from Iraq. She was understandably vague about what/where the buildings are, but apparently they are left over from Saddam and are currently being occupied by Coalition Forces.
She has mentioned running around a lake in her time off, I can only assume it's the one pictured here. She also pointed me to this article that one of her classmates had written about their training prior to going to Iraq. For those of you that don't know, Sarah enlisted in the Air Force when she graduated high school and has been involved in the military ever since. She has primarily done intelligence work for the USAF, but when she requested to go to Iraq she was trained to join the Army. Apparently a lot of Navy and Air Force troops are undergoing a "crash course" on the Army's way of doing things so they can integrate into this branch of our armed forces and help to fill the personnel related deficiencies of the Army. Anyways, here's the article which you can also read here:
ILO: Airmen have it tough; Army has it tougher
Commentary by Air Force Master Sgt. Brian S. Orban
366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office
12/3/2007 - FORT SILL, Okla. --
Editor's note: Sergeant Orban, 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office superintendent, is currently on a six-month In-Lieu-Of deployment to Baghdad in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"I-E-D ... I-E-D ... I.E.D!"
The shouts broke the prolonged silence as Airmen in my armored convoy sprung into action. The seatbelt pulled taught against my ballistic vest as the vehicles screeched to an unpleasant halt while the convoy commander requested confirmation from the lead vehicle.
"Pirate One, this is Six. What've you got?" the captain asked the HUMVEE crew several meters ahead.
BOOM!
"Contact right! Contact right," the lead truck commander shouted into his radio as automatic weapons fire followed the explosion from the roadside bomb. Chatter blared over the vehicle's radio speaker as the team sought out muzzle flashes to pinpoint the enemy's position. With multiple weapons blazing, the Air Force team overwhelmed the outnumbered insurgents, ending the ambush in mere seconds.
"Convoy Three, this is Apache Base. Proceed forward 100 meters down the road and dismount for a hot wash," the instructor said over the radio.
The results were not too shabby. We met most of the training objectives, but there was, naturally, room for improvement. With our adrenaline still pumping, we mounted up and headed down the road wondering what other nasty surprises awaited us.
The mock ambush culminated a month-long combat skills training, or CST, course at Fort Sill, Okla. Hosted by the Army, it exposed 64 Airmen representing roughly 50 career fields to life in today's deployed environment. It's a requirement for Air Force personnel deploying to support the Army's in-lieu-of missions, commonly referred to as ILOs. We were among the hundreds of Air Force and Navy troops slated to fill these posts. Why? The Army simply can't fill all of them as its forces remain stretched across the Middle East rooting out terrorists across Iraq and Afghanistan.
Training up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, we learned combat skills to keep us alive in an "everything just went wrong" scenario. Classroom discussions included advanced combat lifesaving techniques and troop leading procedures. Outdoor courses featured advanced small arms handling and qualification, convoy movement and tactics, current techniques to identify improvised explosive devices and close-quarters combat drills using live ammo.
The training was like nothing I'd ever seen in my 23 years of Air Force service. It made Warrior Week during basic training look like a stroll down Sesame Street. Soldiers fresh from the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan taught the classes, using personal examples to drive their points. They were the subject matter experts. They shared the latest information available on enemy tactics.
Realism was the order of the day. Armored vehicles took us from Point A to Point B, and the uniform of the day included full "battle rattle" -- Kevlar helmets, rucksacks and advanced bullet-proof vests. Things never went as planned. Things blew up. Vehicles broke down as "bad guys" attacked. Friendly "locals" waving to us on the side of the road one day lulled us into ambushes the next. We got shot at a lot (with blanks naturally), and we fired back. Our folks were "wounded," and we had to treat them on the fly and call in the cavalry.
We made mistakes and learned from them ... quickly. On occasion, we actually surprised our instructors, showing them how fast Airmen can learn, apply and adapt. That's how we surprised and captured a group of "insurgents" -- something definitely not on the lesson plan but probably our proudest moment.
When the classes ended late each night, we were hot, sweaty and didn't smell too well. If you didn't like it - too bad!
During our graduation ceremony, I took a moment to think back on the past four weeks and how it changed each of us. We were tougher, more confident and ready to go. It also helped me appreciate the type of training our Army brethren go through every day, especially in the final days before they deploy. I had the opportunity for a brief exposure to their world, and in turn they got to see part of mine.
The Air Force team has it tough in today's high operations tempo environment. The Army has it much tougher. They'll do this for a living for the next 15 months.
Needless to say I am extremely proud of my sister, her patriotism, and her dedication to her country. I always knew my sister to be an exceptional athlete whose physical abilities were matched by her fighters mentality and "never say die" attitude. If you were to judge her book by it's cover you might have trouble picturing her in the scenarios that the author describes, but those of us that know the ferocity with which she tackles new challenges don't.
She has mentioned running around a lake in her time off, I can only assume it's the one pictured here. She also pointed me to this article that one of her classmates had written about their training prior to going to Iraq. For those of you that don't know, Sarah enlisted in the Air Force when she graduated high school and has been involved in the military ever since. She has primarily done intelligence work for the USAF, but when she requested to go to Iraq she was trained to join the Army. Apparently a lot of Navy and Air Force troops are undergoing a "crash course" on the Army's way of doing things so they can integrate into this branch of our armed forces and help to fill the personnel related deficiencies of the Army. Anyways, here's the article which you can also read here:ILO: Airmen have it tough; Army has it tougher
Commentary by Air Force Master Sgt. Brian S. Orban
366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office
12/3/2007 - FORT SILL, Okla. --
Editor's note: Sergeant Orban, 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office superintendent, is currently on a six-month In-Lieu-Of deployment to Baghdad in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"I-E-D ... I-E-D ... I.E.D!"
The shouts broke the prolonged silence as Airmen in my armored convoy sprung into action. The seatbelt pulled taught against my ballistic vest as the vehicles screeched to an unpleasant halt while the convoy commander requested confirmation from the lead vehicle.
"Pirate One, this is Six. What've you got?" the captain asked the HUMVEE crew several meters ahead.
BOOM!
"Contact right! Contact right," the lead truck commander shouted into his radio as automatic weapons fire followed the explosion from the roadside bomb. Chatter blared over the vehicle's radio speaker as the team sought out muzzle flashes to pinpoint the enemy's position. With multiple weapons blazing, the Air Force team overwhelmed the outnumbered insurgents, ending the ambush in mere seconds.
"Convoy Three, this is Apache Base. Proceed forward 100 meters down the road and dismount for a hot wash," the instructor said over the radio.
The results were not too shabby. We met most of the training objectives, but there was, naturally, room for improvement. With our adrenaline still pumping, we mounted up and headed down the road wondering what other nasty surprises awaited us.
The mock ambush culminated a month-long combat skills training, or CST, course at Fort Sill, Okla. Hosted by the Army, it exposed 64 Airmen representing roughly 50 career fields to life in today's deployed environment. It's a requirement for Air Force personnel deploying to support the Army's in-lieu-of missions, commonly referred to as ILOs. We were among the hundreds of Air Force and Navy troops slated to fill these posts. Why? The Army simply can't fill all of them as its forces remain stretched across the Middle East rooting out terrorists across Iraq and Afghanistan.
Training up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, we learned combat skills to keep us alive in an "everything just went wrong" scenario. Classroom discussions included advanced combat lifesaving techniques and troop leading procedures. Outdoor courses featured advanced small arms handling and qualification, convoy movement and tactics, current techniques to identify improvised explosive devices and close-quarters combat drills using live ammo.
The training was like nothing I'd ever seen in my 23 years of Air Force service. It made Warrior Week during basic training look like a stroll down Sesame Street. Soldiers fresh from the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan taught the classes, using personal examples to drive their points. They were the subject matter experts. They shared the latest information available on enemy tactics.
Realism was the order of the day. Armored vehicles took us from Point A to Point B, and the uniform of the day included full "battle rattle" -- Kevlar helmets, rucksacks and advanced bullet-proof vests. Things never went as planned. Things blew up. Vehicles broke down as "bad guys" attacked. Friendly "locals" waving to us on the side of the road one day lulled us into ambushes the next. We got shot at a lot (with blanks naturally), and we fired back. Our folks were "wounded," and we had to treat them on the fly and call in the cavalry.
We made mistakes and learned from them ... quickly. On occasion, we actually surprised our instructors, showing them how fast Airmen can learn, apply and adapt. That's how we surprised and captured a group of "insurgents" -- something definitely not on the lesson plan but probably our proudest moment.
When the classes ended late each night, we were hot, sweaty and didn't smell too well. If you didn't like it - too bad!
During our graduation ceremony, I took a moment to think back on the past four weeks and how it changed each of us. We were tougher, more confident and ready to go. It also helped me appreciate the type of training our Army brethren go through every day, especially in the final days before they deploy. I had the opportunity for a brief exposure to their world, and in turn they got to see part of mine.
The Air Force team has it tough in today's high operations tempo environment. The Army has it much tougher. They'll do this for a living for the next 15 months.
Needless to say I am extremely proud of my sister, her patriotism, and her dedication to her country. I always knew my sister to be an exceptional athlete whose physical abilities were matched by her fighters mentality and "never say die" attitude. If you were to judge her book by it's cover you might have trouble picturing her in the scenarios that the author describes, but those of us that know the ferocity with which she tackles new challenges don't.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Jack's Back With the Family
At about 8:00 PM tonight Jack was released from the newborn intensive care unit and joined Mom and I to spend the night together. It appears that there is a very good chance that he will be able to come home with us tomorrow. I know everyone pretty up to date on this week's happenings, but I'll try to provide a little more detail.
Wednesday the 5th was like most days, Carrie and I woke up a little before 6:00 AM to get Carlos ready for school. Much to Carlos' liking we had some inclement weather and a two hour delay turned into a school closing. After I finished my annual winter rant about how we had to have 5 feet of snow for them to cancel school in Upstate NY when I was growing up Carlos headed outside for some sledding and I went back to work.
Carrie spent the day doing some baby/Christmas shopping and doing some things around the house. Benny and Tiki were playing outside in the snow for quite some time and when they came in Benny's wireless shock collar was AWOL. This happens every now and again because Tiki like to grab Benny by the collar and whip him around when they're playing. Unfortunately, by the time we realized it was missing a few inches of snow had come down and we couldn't find it. Because those collars cost over a hundred dollars Carrie and I engineered a plan of attack where we had Carlos slowly dialing down the radius of the wireless parameter while Carrie and I listened outside for the collar to start beeping. We had no luck and gave up after about a half hour and let the boys back out. Within about 5 minutes we saw Tiki fling something up out of the snow through the window and sure enough it was Benny's collar.
After dinner we started building a gingerbread house which has become a family Christmas tradition. About halfway through Carrie commented about how she hadn't really felt Jackson all day and decided to lay on her side to get him moving. After about 20 minutes with no success we called the nurse's station at the hospital and they advised that Carrie drink some juice and continue to lay on her side. We felt a few weak kicks, but were still worried so we decided to venture over to the hospital despite the bad weather at about 7:00 PM. They hooked up Carrie to the EKG and we saw that jacks heartbeat looked OK, and that she wasn't having any contractions. We left sometime later and arrived home at about 10:00. Carrie and I did some email and checked the news to find out that school had been canceled for the next day as well, so I set the alarm clock an hour later and went to bed.
Carrie awoke at about 5:30 AM on Thursday the 6th with a contraction. As she noticed the next one after a relatively short amount of time she grabbed her cell phone and did a rough timing of both the interval between contractions and their duration. She woke me a little after 6:00 and told me the situation. I called the nurse's station and they told us to wait about another 30 minutes, and if the situtaion was still the same, to come in. I woke up Carlos and told him to get his stuff ready and get something to eat quickly. I made Carrie a quick breakfast and hopped in the shower. We headed to the hospital and got to the emergency room around 7:00. They wheeled Carrie upstairs and put her in a triage room again hooking up the EKG. At about 8:00 they did an internal examine and said she was about 2 cm dilated. She was pretty surprised by this because the contractions were getting stronger by this point so they gave her about an eight of the normal dose of Nubain. This seemed to relax her a bit, but she was still feeling some pain. At this point Carlos decided he'd rather hang out n the waiting room. At 11:00 they gave Carrie another internal exam and said she was still at 2 cm and there was a good chance we'd have to go home. She was adamant about the fact that she knew her body and knew she needed to stay at the hospital. We spoke with the doctor and he told us our midwife was at the hospital and she could make the final determination. She came in at noon and examined Carrie yet again and found her to be 4 cm dilated - she'd won admittance to a delivery room!
Once in the delivery room the severity and pain associated with her contractions seemed to escalate exponentially (hey that's not a bad alliteration for an engineer ;) ). They gave Carrie a full dosage of Nubain and this seemed to allow her to ride out her contractions a bit better. During this period she remained pretty calm and even was able to doze off for a little bit. I used this opportunity to check on Carlos and give him Carrie's cell phone to keep him updated. I told him he could call someone if he felt like talking, and after a quick trip to the bathroom I saw him pacing the halls chatting on the cellphone in full view of any 11 year old girls that might be at the hospital overhearing an occasional "dude" and "awesome". All I can say is those teenage years are coming quick like a fast freight train just a choogin on down to New Orleans (any CCR fans reading this)?
At about 4:30 our midwife did another internal exam and Carrie was at about 8 cm dilated, 90% effaced and Jackson was at a -2 station. Things were moving very quickly as we expected, after all her labor for Carlos was only about 4 hours long, quite uncommon for a first child. I called Carlos to tell him the news and told him I'd probably be unreachable for about the next two hours, as the midwife estimated the baby would be out in that timeframe. Because her water had not yet broke, but it was described as "bulging" through her cervix, we all decided to break it. When they did they noticed some discoloration consistent with meconium. I'm not sure that Carrie picked up on what the doctors were discussing, but I was immediately anxious as my nephew Connor had a very tough going when he was born because he inhaled some meconium. The doctors called pediatrics and Carrie started to push. In the course of pushing through about three good contractions she got Jack to a +1 station. The doctors and myself were quite amazed by that. By this point I was holding a leg and glad that I wasn't quezzy as I was worried I'd be. A few minutes later Jack was crowning and I was a bit worried as he appeared to have some meconium on the top of his head. I few hard pushes later and he was out. Obviously, I cannot do the experience justice with word, nor can I describe the pure anguish Carrie seemed to endure to get him out. All I can say is that when the experience was over I will never view Carrie in the same light again, and mothers in general. She persevered through those long last hours with such strength, it was truly remarkable.
The midwife told us that she was going to make sure Jack didn't scream when he came out as she didn't want him to inhale any meconium. I quickly cut the umbilical cord and he was given to the pediatric doctors. Carrie and I watched on a they pumped oxygen into a dazed looking Jackson and sucked out his esophagus. We asked if he was OK and was understandably given to with noncommittal responses. They just didn't know. His skin was very pale, and he just had this dazed look. I listened on as they gave out horrendous Apgar scores and began to worry. They did let Carrie hold him briefly though which offered some consolation. They then rushed him out and left us kind of scared. About 20 minutes later one of the pediatric doctors returned and told us that it looked like the meconium had only made it to his vocal cords, that he seemed to be breathing better now, and was more responsive. He would however have to remain in the NICU for observation. With our glass now half full I called Carlos and gave him the good news, but told him he'd have to wait for a little while to meet his brother. He came over to the room and Carrie and I began to make some phone calls. I called my Mom and kind of lost it when I heard her voice. I ducked in the bathroom because I didn't want to freak Carlos out. After talking with her I called Jess and she was able to calm me doen a bit as she had been through the same experience.
We headed to the NICU a few minutes before 7 and were able to see Jackson. He had a oxygen hood on but already looked much better. He was much more active, his skin had better color, and he was sucking away on a pacifier. As Jess told me later, this was a big a milestone in and of itself - if there was any concern of meconium he would not be allowed to do this. Carrie and I spoke to the doctor and were given some reassuring words. We returned several times throughout the night to check on him and at about 1:00 AM we were told that they had turned his oxygen level down to 35%, not bad considering we breathe 21% oxygen. The doctors were still noncommittal on a release date, but they said he was looking much better and they're next step was to get him breathing room air.
We arrived Friday morning to find him with his oxygen hood off! We could finally see his face up close and personal and even better we could now hold him! As the day continued we were told that the next step would be to see how he reacted to being breastfed! We couldn't believe how quickly things were changing for the better. That night at 9:00 Carrie fed him for the first time and did the same at midnight. He was still on his IV so the nurses told us he was getting enough nutrition and we should get some rest and return at 6:00 AM to feed him.
We continued to return to breastfeed throughout Saturday morning and stuck around to speak with the doctors while they were making their rounds. We asked a bevy of questions and were given positive responses to all of them. The most important of which was that the anticipated transferring him out of the NICU and over to the maternity ward that evening provided his sugar levels stayed up once he was taken off the IV. We returned later to see that he was indeed of his IV, but they had to reattach another to administer antibiotics. Sadly, they stuck him several times and were only able to get a good one in the side of his head. But as of 8:00 tonight he's with us in our room and things are looking good for him to leave tomorrow!
Obviously, we are very excited to have him here, and have been soaking him up.
Here's a few more parting shots:
Wednesday the 5th was like most days, Carrie and I woke up a little before 6:00 AM to get Carlos ready for school. Much to Carlos' liking we had some inclement weather and a two hour delay turned into a school closing. After I finished my annual winter rant about how we had to have 5 feet of snow for them to cancel school in Upstate NY when I was growing up Carlos headed outside for some sledding and I went back to work.
Carrie spent the day doing some baby/Christmas shopping and doing some things around the house. Benny and Tiki were playing outside in the snow for quite some time and when they came in Benny's wireless shock collar was AWOL. This happens every now and again because Tiki like to grab Benny by the collar and whip him around when they're playing. Unfortunately, by the time we realized it was missing a few inches of snow had come down and we couldn't find it. Because those collars cost over a hundred dollars Carrie and I engineered a plan of attack where we had Carlos slowly dialing down the radius of the wireless parameter while Carrie and I listened outside for the collar to start beeping. We had no luck and gave up after about a half hour and let the boys back out. Within about 5 minutes we saw Tiki fling something up out of the snow through the window and sure enough it was Benny's collar.
After dinner we started building a gingerbread house which has become a family Christmas tradition. About halfway through Carrie commented about how she hadn't really felt Jackson all day and decided to lay on her side to get him moving. After about 20 minutes with no success we called the nurse's station at the hospital and they advised that Carrie drink some juice and continue to lay on her side. We felt a few weak kicks, but were still worried so we decided to venture over to the hospital despite the bad weather at about 7:00 PM. They hooked up Carrie to the EKG and we saw that jacks heartbeat looked OK, and that she wasn't having any contractions. We left sometime later and arrived home at about 10:00. Carrie and I did some email and checked the news to find out that school had been canceled for the next day as well, so I set the alarm clock an hour later and went to bed.
Carrie awoke at about 5:30 AM on Thursday the 6th with a contraction. As she noticed the next one after a relatively short amount of time she grabbed her cell phone and did a rough timing of both the interval between contractions and their duration. She woke me a little after 6:00 and told me the situation. I called the nurse's station and they told us to wait about another 30 minutes, and if the situtaion was still the same, to come in. I woke up Carlos and told him to get his stuff ready and get something to eat quickly. I made Carrie a quick breakfast and hopped in the shower. We headed to the hospital and got to the emergency room around 7:00. They wheeled Carrie upstairs and put her in a triage room again hooking up the EKG. At about 8:00 they did an internal examine and said she was about 2 cm dilated. She was pretty surprised by this because the contractions were getting stronger by this point so they gave her about an eight of the normal dose of Nubain. This seemed to relax her a bit, but she was still feeling some pain. At this point Carlos decided he'd rather hang out n the waiting room. At 11:00 they gave Carrie another internal exam and said she was still at 2 cm and there was a good chance we'd have to go home. She was adamant about the fact that she knew her body and knew she needed to stay at the hospital. We spoke with the doctor and he told us our midwife was at the hospital and she could make the final determination. She came in at noon and examined Carrie yet again and found her to be 4 cm dilated - she'd won admittance to a delivery room!
Once in the delivery room the severity and pain associated with her contractions seemed to escalate exponentially (hey that's not a bad alliteration for an engineer ;) ). They gave Carrie a full dosage of Nubain and this seemed to allow her to ride out her contractions a bit better. During this period she remained pretty calm and even was able to doze off for a little bit. I used this opportunity to check on Carlos and give him Carrie's cell phone to keep him updated. I told him he could call someone if he felt like talking, and after a quick trip to the bathroom I saw him pacing the halls chatting on the cellphone in full view of any 11 year old girls that might be at the hospital overhearing an occasional "dude" and "awesome". All I can say is those teenage years are coming quick like a fast freight train just a choogin on down to New Orleans (any CCR fans reading this)?
At about 4:30 our midwife did another internal exam and Carrie was at about 8 cm dilated, 90% effaced and Jackson was at a -2 station. Things were moving very quickly as we expected, after all her labor for Carlos was only about 4 hours long, quite uncommon for a first child. I called Carlos to tell him the news and told him I'd probably be unreachable for about the next two hours, as the midwife estimated the baby would be out in that timeframe. Because her water had not yet broke, but it was described as "bulging" through her cervix, we all decided to break it. When they did they noticed some discoloration consistent with meconium. I'm not sure that Carrie picked up on what the doctors were discussing, but I was immediately anxious as my nephew Connor had a very tough going when he was born because he inhaled some meconium. The doctors called pediatrics and Carrie started to push. In the course of pushing through about three good contractions she got Jack to a +1 station. The doctors and myself were quite amazed by that. By this point I was holding a leg and glad that I wasn't quezzy as I was worried I'd be. A few minutes later Jack was crowning and I was a bit worried as he appeared to have some meconium on the top of his head. I few hard pushes later and he was out. Obviously, I cannot do the experience justice with word, nor can I describe the pure anguish Carrie seemed to endure to get him out. All I can say is that when the experience was over I will never view Carrie in the same light again, and mothers in general. She persevered through those long last hours with such strength, it was truly remarkable.
The midwife told us that she was going to make sure Jack didn't scream when he came out as she didn't want him to inhale any meconium. I quickly cut the umbilical cord and he was given to the pediatric doctors. Carrie and I watched on a they pumped oxygen into a dazed looking Jackson and sucked out his esophagus. We asked if he was OK and was understandably given to with noncommittal responses. They just didn't know. His skin was very pale, and he just had this dazed look. I listened on as they gave out horrendous Apgar scores and began to worry. They did let Carrie hold him briefly though which offered some consolation. They then rushed him out and left us kind of scared. About 20 minutes later one of the pediatric doctors returned and told us that it looked like the meconium had only made it to his vocal cords, that he seemed to be breathing better now, and was more responsive. He would however have to remain in the NICU for observation. With our glass now half full I called Carlos and gave him the good news, but told him he'd have to wait for a little while to meet his brother. He came over to the room and Carrie and I began to make some phone calls. I called my Mom and kind of lost it when I heard her voice. I ducked in the bathroom because I didn't want to freak Carlos out. After talking with her I called Jess and she was able to calm me doen a bit as she had been through the same experience.
We headed to the NICU a few minutes before 7 and were able to see Jackson. He had a oxygen hood on but already looked much better. He was much more active, his skin had better color, and he was sucking away on a pacifier. As Jess told me later, this was a big a milestone in and of itself - if there was any concern of meconium he would not be allowed to do this. Carrie and I spoke to the doctor and were given some reassuring words. We returned several times throughout the night to check on him and at about 1:00 AM we were told that they had turned his oxygen level down to 35%, not bad considering we breathe 21% oxygen. The doctors were still noncommittal on a release date, but they said he was looking much better and they're next step was to get him breathing room air.
We arrived Friday morning to find him with his oxygen hood off! We could finally see his face up close and personal and even better we could now hold him! As the day continued we were told that the next step would be to see how he reacted to being breastfed! We couldn't believe how quickly things were changing for the better. That night at 9:00 Carrie fed him for the first time and did the same at midnight. He was still on his IV so the nurses told us he was getting enough nutrition and we should get some rest and return at 6:00 AM to feed him.
We continued to return to breastfeed throughout Saturday morning and stuck around to speak with the doctors while they were making their rounds. We asked a bevy of questions and were given positive responses to all of them. The most important of which was that the anticipated transferring him out of the NICU and over to the maternity ward that evening provided his sugar levels stayed up once he was taken off the IV. We returned later to see that he was indeed of his IV, but they had to reattach another to administer antibiotics. Sadly, they stuck him several times and were only able to get a good one in the side of his head. But as of 8:00 tonight he's with us in our room and things are looking good for him to leave tomorrow!
Obviously, we are very excited to have him here, and have been soaking him up.
Here's a few more parting shots:
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Waiting for Jackson's Arrival
Hello all, I thought I would post a little information for all of you who are also awaiting the arrival of our new baby Jackson. It seems as if maybe he will be arriving within the next few days as I have been having contractions off and on all day. There is no rhyme or reason to them and they have varied in intensity but I'm hoping they are doing something. :) I don't know if it has any bearing on the current situation at all, but when I was pregnant with Carlos I started having contractions a couple days before I went into 'real' labor. So, I'm hoping that Jackson shows up soon!! We'll see, I'll try to post again if the situation changes or if my contractions become more regular.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Carlos Busted!
Warning: Grandmothers and others that fall into the "not my Carlos" camp may not want to read this post. It contains a report of an actual incident in which Carlos was totally busted!
Morgantown, WV - At approximately noon on Sunday December 1, 2007 Robert and Carrie Best left their home to do some quick holiday shopping for, among others, their son Carlos. Prior to leaving the residence, Mr. Best alerted son Carlos that the couple would only be out for a short amount of time and warned him against any Christmas present snooping. "I told him we was only gonna be gone fer a few minutes and don't you go snoopin fer none of them Christmas presents, ya hear?" commented Best.
Feeling that despite the warning his curious son might still look for Christmas presents in the publicly known holding area - the bedroom closet - Best devised a trap in an attempt to catch the would be surprise-ruiner red handed.
"The old dime-in-the-door trick" said Best. "I learnt it watchin Mac Guyver".
Best continued to explain that noting the placement of the dime along with other measures - such as laying a dog-hair across the face of the dime at a particular angle - make it more difficult for the perpetrator to attempt to replace the detection device after the trap has been sprung.
"When I got home I wuz like oh-snap, looks like we got a bite!"
Noticing that the trap had been sprung Best confronted son Carlos who initially denied snooping but later admitted it amidst hysterical, or what some might describe as maniacal, laughter.
When questioned after the incident, the proverbial Grinch had this to say:
Morgantown, WV - At approximately noon on Sunday December 1, 2007 Robert and Carrie Best left their home to do some quick holiday shopping for, among others, their son Carlos. Prior to leaving the residence, Mr. Best alerted son Carlos that the couple would only be out for a short amount of time and warned him against any Christmas present snooping. "I told him we was only gonna be gone fer a few minutes and don't you go snoopin fer none of them Christmas presents, ya hear?" commented Best.
Feeling that despite the warning his curious son might still look for Christmas presents in the publicly known holding area - the bedroom closet - Best devised a trap in an attempt to catch the would be surprise-ruiner red handed.
"The old dime-in-the-door trick" said Best. "I learnt it watchin Mac Guyver".
Best continued to explain that noting the placement of the dime along with other measures - such as laying a dog-hair across the face of the dime at a particular angle - make it more difficult for the perpetrator to attempt to replace the detection device after the trap has been sprung."When I got home I wuz like oh-snap, looks like we got a bite!"
Noticing that the trap had been sprung Best confronted son Carlos who initially denied snooping but later admitted it amidst hysterical, or what some might describe as maniacal, laughter.When questioned after the incident, the proverbial Grinch had this to say:
Carrie's Weekly Appointment
Well on Friday we had Carrie's weekly appointment along with a bonus ultrasound. We had requested the ultrasound as we were a bit concerned about Jackson's size and wanted to get an update. Well things seem to progressing normally, Jackson's about 7 lbs 11 oz by their calculations and is measuring normally. They also hooked up a fetal monitor and checked the heartbeat and movement which all appear to be healthy and normal. Lastly, Carrie seemed to be about 1 cm dilated and I didn't hear if the doctor mentioned a percentage of effacement, so I'm assuming it's low.
On the preparation front, I have all my questions answered and only have a few more things to get ready. Our family has started making birth date predictions with Carrie guessing the 3rd, Carlos the 7th (Pearl Harbor Day for you Jeopardy types), and me the 11th (my lucky number). I may have to bite Katy's blog and put up a poll so my many readers can get involved on the guessing the birth date (I bet Sarah guesses the 10th and Nance (that's for you Sarah) the 15th).
On the preparation front, I have all my questions answered and only have a few more things to get ready. Our family has started making birth date predictions with Carrie guessing the 3rd, Carlos the 7th (Pearl Harbor Day for you Jeopardy types), and me the 11th (my lucky number). I may have to bite Katy's blog and put up a poll so my many readers can get involved on the guessing the birth date (I bet Sarah guesses the 10th and Nance (that's for you Sarah) the 15th).
Brady Visits WV
Corinne, Nancy, and Brady came down for a visit this past week and Brady was an unknowing participant in a test to see how well our home was setup for a toddler. The one thing I was worried about was whether the tenacious Tiki Barber Gonzalez would knock over Brady trying to lick him or if the benevolent Benny Best would inadvertently knock him down.
(A note to any would be robbers: They are much tougher than they look!)
Well Benny did great and Tiki was OK for the most part, especially when Brady started toting around the spray bottle that we use on Tiki when he's being bad. Other than that our house was in pretty bad shape safety-wise (we hardly did any prep) but we followed Brady around and picked stuff up as he got into it.
(A note to any would be robbers: They are much tougher than they look!)Well Benny did great and Tiki was OK for the most part, especially when Brady started toting around the spray bottle that we use on Tiki when he's being bad. Other than that our house was in pretty bad shape safety-wise (we hardly did any prep) but we followed Brady around and picked stuff up as he got into it.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Thanksgiving At Home
This Thanksgiving will always be quite memorable for me as it was the first one I've ever had at my own home. Because Carrie is so far along in her pregnancy, travel is discouraged. Subsequently we decided we were going to have Thanksgiving at home and were hoping some others would join us. Luckily Carrie's Dad was able to get time off from work and come down. In total we had 8 people and two dogs - just enough to put all the leafs in our dining room table - yippy! It was Carrie, Carlos and I, Mike and Katy, Nancy and Dave, and Grampa Andy also made it down. It was really nice that everyone was able to come being that they all had to do more traveling, but it meant a lot to us. Dinner was awesome with all the thanks going to Carrie and Carlos for getting everything ready.
I have to say I will never forget the feeling of sitting at the head of my dining room table and having Thanksgiving dinner at my house for the first time. Apparently, your life flashing before your eyes isn't always predicated by a near-death experience because I found myself spending a few minutes during the beginning of the meal reflecting on how much my life has changed in the last few years, particularly since Carrie and Carlos came into it. Three jobs, two states, and two apartments later, here I am sitting at the head of my dining room table in my house having Thanksgiving. I accredit all the good that has come into my life in the last few years to meeting Carrie and Carlos, so needless to say God putting them in my life is what I'm most thankful for.
Everyone got to check out the basement as well while they were down including my command center ... and yes I really need all those computers.
Be thankful I don't have an entire image generator rack. While I'm on the subject of the basement, here's a few more shots that'll give you an idea of how it looks. We still need to get some more furniture, but it will give you a rough idea. As you get to the bottom of the stairs, there's a door to the left that leads to the aforementioned office. If you go right you hit the main area which is an entertainment/workout room. Here's the entertainment room area:
We ordered a 42" 1080p LCD TV to hang on the wall down there so Carlos and I will be all set for some serious gaming, although the Playstation 3 is the only thing that will currently support that resolution (1920x1080) and we won't be getting one of those anytime soon. But I will be able to hook my laptop up to it and play some true hi-def videos. The entertainment room is separated from the workout room by a half wall:
We over-sized the workout area a bit to leave room for and elliptical trainer and some other stuff should we choose to add it later. Off of the entertainment area is a bedroom that is pretty bare right now:
You can see the bathroom off the back of the bedroom. It is also accessible from my office by walking through the unfinished storage room. We have the shower in and most of the plumbing run, we just need to tile, drywall, put in the toilet/sink, ceiling, and finish.
After dinner we watched some football and settled into what is quickly becoming a new tradition .... bowling on Wii Sports! Mike, Dave, Carlos and I played while everyone else watched. With Grampa Andy's advise Dave was quickly able to get back into his Christmas 06' form, as was Mike - once again getting enough English in the ball to traverse he entire lane on a throw. But the true star was once again Carlos as he bowled an all-time hi for our house - 241. But in all fairness he did have the entire week off and I know he was practicing.
Everyone left Thursday evening, but most of us met up again on Saturday for Carrie and Katy's baby shower. It seemed like everyone had a good time and it was really nice of Corinne to put everything together. When we got home Carrie, Carlos, and I took everything out and started getting Jackson's room set up a little more thoroughly. Here are a few pics:
You can see "Gillseppe" the frog that I bought in Italy, and it you look real close you can see the Davy Crockett hat that Mimi got Jackson along with a picture of his Dad wearing his when he was little. Man I used to love me some Davy Crockett, after all he was the king of the wild frontier.
Carrie and I also went shopping to get some more stuff off our registry that we needed. I also spent a good deal of time on Sunday reading up on the labor/delivery process and getting my ducks in a row. I have a number of questions for our physician that I'll be asking on Friday, but I feel much more comfortable now. Except for when I go to sleep and have nightmares about losing my job, not remembering where the hospital is, and much worse. Luckily these are only dreams and are quite common as I've read.
With setting up Jack's room and my mental preparation for the delivery I can say that is finally starting to sink in that I am going to have a baby at home soon. I am getting really anxious and excited, it seems to be all consuming mentally. I have trouble thinking about anything else. I suppose this is good practice however as I hear having a baby can be pretty all consuming both physically and mentally. :)
I have to say I will never forget the feeling of sitting at the head of my dining room table and having Thanksgiving dinner at my house for the first time. Apparently, your life flashing before your eyes isn't always predicated by a near-death experience because I found myself spending a few minutes during the beginning of the meal reflecting on how much my life has changed in the last few years, particularly since Carrie and Carlos came into it. Three jobs, two states, and two apartments later, here I am sitting at the head of my dining room table in my house having Thanksgiving. I accredit all the good that has come into my life in the last few years to meeting Carrie and Carlos, so needless to say God putting them in my life is what I'm most thankful for.
Everyone got to check out the basement as well while they were down including my command center ... and yes I really need all those computers.
Be thankful I don't have an entire image generator rack. While I'm on the subject of the basement, here's a few more shots that'll give you an idea of how it looks. We still need to get some more furniture, but it will give you a rough idea. As you get to the bottom of the stairs, there's a door to the left that leads to the aforementioned office. If you go right you hit the main area which is an entertainment/workout room. Here's the entertainment room area:
We ordered a 42" 1080p LCD TV to hang on the wall down there so Carlos and I will be all set for some serious gaming, although the Playstation 3 is the only thing that will currently support that resolution (1920x1080) and we won't be getting one of those anytime soon. But I will be able to hook my laptop up to it and play some true hi-def videos. The entertainment room is separated from the workout room by a half wall:
We over-sized the workout area a bit to leave room for and elliptical trainer and some other stuff should we choose to add it later. Off of the entertainment area is a bedroom that is pretty bare right now:
You can see the bathroom off the back of the bedroom. It is also accessible from my office by walking through the unfinished storage room. We have the shower in and most of the plumbing run, we just need to tile, drywall, put in the toilet/sink, ceiling, and finish.After dinner we watched some football and settled into what is quickly becoming a new tradition .... bowling on Wii Sports! Mike, Dave, Carlos and I played while everyone else watched. With Grampa Andy's advise Dave was quickly able to get back into his Christmas 06' form, as was Mike - once again getting enough English in the ball to traverse he entire lane on a throw. But the true star was once again Carlos as he bowled an all-time hi for our house - 241. But in all fairness he did have the entire week off and I know he was practicing.
Everyone left Thursday evening, but most of us met up again on Saturday for Carrie and Katy's baby shower. It seemed like everyone had a good time and it was really nice of Corinne to put everything together. When we got home Carrie, Carlos, and I took everything out and started getting Jackson's room set up a little more thoroughly. Here are a few pics:
You can see "Gillseppe" the frog that I bought in Italy, and it you look real close you can see the Davy Crockett hat that Mimi got Jackson along with a picture of his Dad wearing his when he was little. Man I used to love me some Davy Crockett, after all he was the king of the wild frontier.
Carrie and I also went shopping to get some more stuff off our registry that we needed. I also spent a good deal of time on Sunday reading up on the labor/delivery process and getting my ducks in a row. I have a number of questions for our physician that I'll be asking on Friday, but I feel much more comfortable now. Except for when I go to sleep and have nightmares about losing my job, not remembering where the hospital is, and much worse. Luckily these are only dreams and are quite common as I've read.With setting up Jack's room and my mental preparation for the delivery I can say that is finally starting to sink in that I am going to have a baby at home soon. I am getting really anxious and excited, it seems to be all consuming mentally. I have trouble thinking about anything else. I suppose this is good practice however as I hear having a baby can be pretty all consuming both physically and mentally. :)
Friday, November 16, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Rob's with the SMIBs, Carrie's with the Stalkers
Well thus far this week has been a busy one for the Best's. I'm at Pax for work, hangin with the SMIBs (if there are any SMIBs reading this, I'm only joking, wait a sec .... SMIBs can't read). On the domestic front Carrie's been taking care of business, including having several plumbers over to give us estimates on a few minor repairs we need in the basement bathroom. The first plumber was a kind old man who seemed quite eager to do the work.
Perhaps too eager.... Dum Dum DUM
Carrie told him we were going to get some more estimates and would call him back the next day (today) after speaking with the other plumber. Well we're not sure if the plumber is starting to go Ronald Reagan on us and can't remember his conversations or if he just isn't very professional, but he called 3 times on Tuesday (including a call at 10 pm) and started calling this morning at 9 am. After Carrie informed him that we had decided to go with another plumber he went on a tirade about being the only professional plumber in the United States. Come to think of it, maybe he is going Reagan on us... He followed this up with another phone call later on tonight. Looks like we got ourselves a certified stalker! Well if he calls again I'm going to have to tell him that we have made our decision and don't wish to speak with him anymore. We consider any further contact to be harassment and will have to notify the authorities. I can empathize with someone trying to make a living, but this is getting a bit ridiculous. Hopefully he's not mobbed up.
Well I have a few more things to do for work tonight and I'll be wrapping my trip up tomorrow. Then if everything goes according to plan I won't be traveling for a few months. It'll be nice being at home and I should be able to hack out a ton of code, which I'm looking forward to (man I'm a gigantic nerd).
Perhaps too eager.... Dum Dum DUM
Carrie told him we were going to get some more estimates and would call him back the next day (today) after speaking with the other plumber. Well we're not sure if the plumber is starting to go Ronald Reagan on us and can't remember his conversations or if he just isn't very professional, but he called 3 times on Tuesday (including a call at 10 pm) and started calling this morning at 9 am. After Carrie informed him that we had decided to go with another plumber he went on a tirade about being the only professional plumber in the United States. Come to think of it, maybe he is going Reagan on us... He followed this up with another phone call later on tonight. Looks like we got ourselves a certified stalker! Well if he calls again I'm going to have to tell him that we have made our decision and don't wish to speak with him anymore. We consider any further contact to be harassment and will have to notify the authorities. I can empathize with someone trying to make a living, but this is getting a bit ridiculous. Hopefully he's not mobbed up.
Well I have a few more things to do for work tonight and I'll be wrapping my trip up tomorrow. Then if everything goes according to plan I won't be traveling for a few months. It'll be nice being at home and I should be able to hack out a ton of code, which I'm looking forward to (man I'm a gigantic nerd).
Monday, November 12, 2007
Remembering Chet
The funeral home put together a nice tribute to Chet's life that is available online and includes an obituary and a video tribute. Just click the link and use the menu on the left to navigate to the obituaries, then select Chet's name. I will always remember a funny experience I shared with Chet when we still were getting to know one another. Carrie, Carlos, and I made a trip up to Corinne's house in March of 2005. Any college basketball fan knows that this is one of the best times of the year, and I was particularly interested as Syracuse was playing that night against Vermont in the first round of the NCAA tournament. I was a bit concerned that I wasn't going to be able to watch the game because it's not exactly good-mannered to visit someone and sack out in front of the TV and watch a basketball game. Thankfully, Chet had my back and said we could watch the game upstairs in Corinne's bedroom. For the next 2+ hours it was just Chet and I lying next to each other in bed watching some sports and yelling at the TV. We had a big laugh at the image of us two heterosexual males lying in bed together and passionately viewing the game. The humor of the situation easily outweighed the disappointing outcome of the game and is a testament to how warm of a person Chet was and how he made anyone feel comfortable, like you'd known him for years.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Definetely a Boy
Today we had another ultrasound and it started with the technician asking us if we knew the sex of the baby. Carrie said that they told her that they were pretty sure it was a boy. Well a few seconds later the technician captured this gem of a picture, which pretty much solidifies the fact that Jack is indeed a boy.
Yeah... that's Jackie's little scrotum. You've got to love technology. When I was young I worried about walking through the door and seeing my Mom showing my girlfriend pictures of me naked in the shower except for my swimming goggles. Now I've already embarrassed my unborn son by posting a picture of his scrotum on the internet. I thought it was embarrassing when my parents pulled over the car and started dancing to "Old Time Rock-and-Roll" in the middle of the road. They've got nothing on me! I can only assume that with a start like this I will surpass them in the long run.
Jack seemed to be sleeping through the ultrasound, but we also got this picture, where you can make out his face.
What you can't see is that the technician told us that he has a lot of hair already and weighs about 6 lbs 1 oz. We also had our weekly appointment and things seem to be progressing nicely. Carrie's been doing very well with her gestational diabetes.
- Rob
Yeah... that's Jackie's little scrotum. You've got to love technology. When I was young I worried about walking through the door and seeing my Mom showing my girlfriend pictures of me naked in the shower except for my swimming goggles. Now I've already embarrassed my unborn son by posting a picture of his scrotum on the internet. I thought it was embarrassing when my parents pulled over the car and started dancing to "Old Time Rock-and-Roll" in the middle of the road. They've got nothing on me! I can only assume that with a start like this I will surpass them in the long run.
Jack seemed to be sleeping through the ultrasound, but we also got this picture, where you can make out his face.
What you can't see is that the technician told us that he has a lot of hair already and weighs about 6 lbs 1 oz. We also had our weekly appointment and things seem to be progressing nicely. Carrie's been doing very well with her gestational diabetes.
- Rob
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Demo
I'm not sure who came up with the idea first, but when I was talking to Mom the other night she mentioned that it might be a good idea for us to create Blogs so Sarah would have a centralized place to see what's up with all our families rather than sifting through a million emails about penis enlargement pills and forwards.
Blog technology has gotten a lot better lately, chief among these advancements is the number of sites that are willing to host your Blog for free. This is one such site that I think is powered by Google, or at least their servers (they seem to have a lot of them) since you have to have a Gmail account to create a Blog. Anyways, I thought I'd check it out to see how I liked it and see if it's a good candidate for us to create our Blogs, so consider this a demo.
Thus far, it seems pretty cool. I was able to create this Blog in a few simple steps. The editor seems pretty nice, I can already see it has spell checking, which is key for us engineer types.
It has the other things you'd expect:
As you can see the picture uploading works well (sorry I don't have any good family pictures on my laptop, so you get a screen shot of our AV-8B model instead). You can set up where the image is displayed in your Blog post, which is nice for us obsessive compulsive types.
Well it's getting late here in Jacksonville so I'm signing off for now. After taking this site for a demo run, I think I'll keep it. If you guys decide you like it, I can help walk you through getting things setup .... on one condition ... no Blog postings that are ALL IN CAPS .... I'M LOOKING AT YOU MOM. ;) Just kidding. :)
Blog technology has gotten a lot better lately, chief among these advancements is the number of sites that are willing to host your Blog for free. This is one such site that I think is powered by Google, or at least their servers (they seem to have a lot of them) since you have to have a Gmail account to create a Blog. Anyways, I thought I'd check it out to see how I liked it and see if it's a good candidate for us to create our Blogs, so consider this a demo.
Thus far, it seems pretty cool. I was able to create this Blog in a few simple steps. The editor seems pretty nice, I can already see it has spell checking, which is key for us engineer types.
It has the other things you'd expect:
- Different Fonts
- Different Colors
- Formatting Options
- The Ability to Upload Pictures
- The Ability to Upload Videos
As you can see the picture uploading works well (sorry I don't have any good family pictures on my laptop, so you get a screen shot of our AV-8B model instead). You can set up where the image is displayed in your Blog post, which is nice for us obsessive compulsive types.
Well it's getting late here in Jacksonville so I'm signing off for now. After taking this site for a demo run, I think I'll keep it. If you guys decide you like it, I can help walk you through getting things setup .... on one condition ... no Blog postings that are ALL IN CAPS .... I'M LOOKING AT YOU MOM. ;) Just kidding. :)
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