So, as per usual around here, it’s been busy. I’ve been trying to get used to my new schedule, which is far easier than I thought. But, I find myself feeling wiped out by mid week… For instance, today is only Tuesday and my juju is definitely on E. ;) The extra time after work is very nice, however, and I’ve almost got a new routine that takes advantage of it.

So what’s news? Let’s see, I finally got my buddy Joel – The Pundit - hooked up on Drupal. I’m thinking of switching to it in order to manage this site, but I don’t like that folks have to sign into the system in order to leave comments with names… I like seeing the names of folks posting comments, and I don’t want you guys to have to “sign” your comments or have to make an account to post a named comment. :) But, we’ll see. Getting back into web work has been nice, tho I have not as much time to devote to it as I’d like… Or perhaps a better description, is I can’t seem to get my priorities straightened out in order to do so. ;)

The Monster weighs 14lbs now! My baby boy is growing up. :( His tummy issues are getting a bit better – thanks to the meds. His therapies are going well. Heidi always tells me about the other kids at these sessions. It really makes you appreciate how lucky our little guy is to have done so well.

This weekend Grandma and Grandpa H came out to visit us! It’s always a treat to see them. Rhys fell asleep in grandpa’s arms! It was so cute! He rarely falls asleep in that position, but he was just so content with grandpa! :) They hadn’t seen him since his first day of life. Must have been such a contrast. I look at the pictures from time to time. Heidi can’t stand to see them just yet. I don’t blame her — they are pretty disturbing to see. But, it helps me with my perspective.

Here’s grandpa w/ Rhys

Here’s grandma w/ Rhys

He also gets to see Lola at least once every week. She spoils him to death, but that’s quite ok. It’s a nice treat for him, for her, and a break for us. :) Win, win, win. :)

Here he is with Lola

Here he is in his car seat gettin ready to go to Target w/ Mom

Lastly, I thought I’d share a shot of what Heidi and I see every morning. He’s usually stirring before us. He just lays there in his bassinette talking to the air practicing mastering his voice. We usually laugh at his little voice, look over at him and this is our view.

Take care out there!

Ok, this entry is primarily for all the geeks out there. I have a sad story to relate about how yesterday I lost a Geek Stripe. All you geeks can follow along the troubleshooting logic train, and any non-geeks shouldn’t worry it’s so bad, you’ll also feel so much smarter than me by the end of this…

So, I bought a 6-in-1 card reader from Think Geek. I figured since I didn’t have a floppy it would be a welcome addition to my workstation. So, I downed my system and began installing it. I had to jimmy the guts of my system to get it working since it was USB, and needed to be clipped onto the USB mains inside the board and not plugged into a regular USB external plug. Ok, all installed, passed the smoke test, and we’re booting into Linux. :)

“# dmesg” reports some new lines in there showing me four (there’s four slots on the 6-in-1 reader) new scsi drives. I figure that’s a good sign. I funked around with it for a long time figuring out which drive was which (as best I could) and also what filesystems to expect. After all of this, I could read my CompactFlash cards, but not my MultiMediaCards. Much tinkering with the device and the kernel all the way up to modifying header code in my usb-storage module. Still no go, in fact modifying the code made the drive go completely away. So I reach the point where every Linux geek hates… Time to test in Windows… We all know Windows will use just about anything – it’s a hardware whore. So, boot up in Windows and the drive auto detects just fine. I get three drives in windows… Strange… Still can’t read MMC cards… So I figure I have a bad Card Reader! So I write Think Geek, letting them know about the bustified Card Reader and how I want a new one!

Boot back into Linux and four drives read, just like before. So that encourages me to keep tinkering… I finally get it to read MMC’s and the solution is QUITE embarassing… Well, you see, when you put the MMC card in upside down, apparently it won’t read very well…. Ugh… ::hangs head in shame::

Lastly, here’s a pic of Rhys when he, mom, and I went to BigBucks coffee. :)

So, today is the last day of my week long vacation. It’s been nice. I’m glad to be moving to a day shift with weekends off (starting on Sunday), but I will miss the bargain basement price of long vacations on this shift. It was nice spending two days worth of vacation time to get five days in a row off, or better even to spend four days to get ten days off. :) As a fine replacement, I will be afforded more time each and everyday after work. I’m thinking this will allow me to keep a more normal schedule and other perks will naturally follow — such as I might shake this chemical imbalance in my brian from all the sleepless nights. :)

Each week I’ve been working on my home network. For us geeks, your home network is like the project car. :) It’s never quite done. Ever… So, this weekend I decided to get my damn iPod working. I got this iPod so that on the lonely weekends when I’m out doing the mind-numbing work of the IT Rock Breaker, I can listen to some tunes. For life is not life without tunes. Well, I finally got it working, just in time for my last weekend day… Sheesh… If you are curious about how an iPod works in Linux, or what it looks like at least, click the thumb of my screen to see some of the software.

In other news, Rhys is getting bigger and bigger. Starting to get an arm cramp if I carry him too long. If you listen closely, you might hear Heidi in the background yelling at me because she does most of the baby carrying. :) At any rate, the good news is that he’s gaining weight like a champ. It certainly feels that way anyhow. Today he’s been a bit pukey, but nothing to worry about as far as we’re concerned. Nothing yet, anyway. He’s sleeping well now — mostly — and I swear he’s the cutest little bambino on earth!! :) Here’s some pics. :)

Rhys and his Star Friend. He says, “Thanks auntie Jess and uncle Yance!”

Another with his Star Friend.

Rhys asleep in his favorite chair.

He knows what a camera is, and this is what he looks like whenever we try to catch him smiling or doing something cute. He does it on purpose I just know it!

Here is what he’s thinking. :)

Well, on that note, I’ve taken up quite enough bandwidth. Time to go. See ya next time on the same bad channel! :)

So, here I sit. I’ve been trying to think of something earth shaking. Something that bears a great and impactful meaning. Something I could write about other than day to day duldrums of the life of one geek, his wife and his son. :)

Well, what did I think of? Nothing profoud, that’s for sure. Life is quite dull here. I don’t have anything earth shaking, nothing impactful and certainly nothing of great importance to write about. All is well with Rhys. Heidi and I are in relatively good health. I found a couple new games I enjoy playing. Heidi got some yard work done. I’m going to a day shift with weekends off. Finally, the pets are just about all the same as they ever are… See? Nothing profound.